A WATCHMAN WARNING! THE DAY...YOUR ROLE

                    

Surely we are at the end of this age, the church age, the time between Jesus’ first time on earth and his return.  The signs are all here.  The prophecies are fulfilled.  Surely he is coming soon. 

Yet consider these scriptures:

…No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.  (Ecclesiastes 8:17, NIV)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  (Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV)

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell me, if you understand.”  (Job 38:4, NIV)

“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,…”  (Job 38: 12, NIV)

“Who has a claim against me that I must pay?  Everything under heaven belongs to me.”  (Job 41:11, NIV)

-        [Also see all of Job: 38-41]

The truth is obvious – we are not God.  But God through his infinite grace has chosen to reveal more and more of himself through the scriptures, through his son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit.  And through his directly speaking to his servants.  All the above scriptures come from the Old Testament, the period before Jesus came to earth.  But Jesus did come, and during his time teaching, preaching, and healing here he revealed to us so very much of God, of God’s plan, of the Kingdom.

Believers are not in darkness now.  We do understand much of God’s plans – if we know the Lord, if we have been born again and baptized with the Holy Spirit, if we allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit, if we obey.  If Jesus Christ is our Lord and we live that way, we have no excuse for not knowing much of what is to happen.

Surely we will never know all.  But we do know a great deal.  It has been revealed.  God never does anything without revealing it beforehand to his prophets (Amos 3:7).  And he has, and he does.

Jesus is coming soon.  I know no one to whom he has revealed the specific hour and day, although it is not inconceivable that he might do that.  But he has clearly revealed his return is imminent, so imminent that he wants his people warned.  “It will be swift,” he has told me, a seldom used word I thought at the time – swift.  “When I come things will change,” he has said.  One time he even added, “This is no joke.”  Interestingly, I recently looked at the very end of the Bible.  There Jesus says in his last words in the Bible, “Surely I come swiftly.”  There’s that word again.  Swiftly is the translation of the original Greek of the New Testament.  It also means quickly.

The time is now.  Any moment. This world system is just playing out its final hand.  All that matters is that as many as possible of those God would have with him in the Kingdom indeed know him.  However God has called you to help in that, you should be pursuing that call with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Now.  There will be no other “last days.”  And, to the extent you can, please help ministries like ours to get the truth about
Jesus and his return out to more and more.

A WATCHMAN WARNING! TIME FOR JUDGMENT

We are at a point now where events are getting too obvious, and where the plowing ahead gets really tiresome.

There is nothing so wonderful as having new people suddenly realize who Christ is, be saved, be healed, be delivered, be set free and move into the Kingdom of God.

But there is such heavy lifting required these days, such breaking up of barricades, such challenging of blind eyes and deaf ears, of spiritually numb people that populate this world.

It doesn’t take a spiritual giant to see the birth pains have increased and become very pointed.  It doesn’t take a Luther or Oral Roberts to discern that judgment is being laid out in specific cases that are symbolic of larger judgment and impending disaster. 

A people cannot thumb their noses at God over and over again for year after year, taking the name of God, of Jesus, out of public documents and discourse and schools and prayer and so on, with no repercussion.  A people cannot decide to formally accept life styles that are absolutely condemned as abominable by God and expect no reaction.

Oh, but you say, those are those other people in Hollywood and NY and government and politics and such.  Not me, you say.  I go to church.  I don’t agree with all that. 

But you do live here, you live here.  You are part of this country and society.  What have you done to work to change that society?  Have you just been tolerant by your silence? 

Many major church denominations have decided to be tolerant.  And accepting.  Oh, their memberships are crashing, to be sure.  Those who are sincere leave those denominations and search tirelessly for more serious churches which they often never find, ending up at home or in small groups.

Many of those same denominations have decided Israel is not the apple of God’s eye.  No, they think, it is their churches, this man-made organization of religious rules and humanist objectives, that is now the modern Israel.  And they seek to disengage from Israel.  No investments there.   

The majority of American churchgoers attend those denominations.  And are they even aware of the heresy of the opinions of the church organization to which they belong?  Not unless someone points it out to them.  Even then, they say, well my specific church is not like that.  Ah, but you are a member of the denomination.  And by your silence and actions you are accepting the position and behavior and actions of the denomination.  Not to mention that part of your financial support most likely goes to the national church organization.

Where is the full gospel being preached?  Where is the power gospel being displayed?  Blind eyes opened? Deaf ears healed?  Tumors vanished?  Pains expelled.  Curses broken?  Jesus praised and lifted high?  Prayers lifted for the peace of Jerusalem? 

Time for judgment.  It’s that time. 

For a few minutes once each week throughout the country many churchgoers sit and hear in essence a report, a little music, and shake hands and smile.  As one associate said, it’s a social occasion.  Sometimes it’s not even that.  And they miss the great truths – that God is real, that Jesus is alive today as he was 2000 years ago, that the Holy Spirit is real and here now, that demons and the devil are real too, that angels are real, that healings and miracles are real now too, and that Jesus is coming very soon to complete this age and move on.

Time.  It’s time.  This age is over.  There were some interesting movements and countries and events.  But now it’s all about floundering around.  Mass corruption and perverse behavior.  Those are primary characteristics of our culture and society.  Those who haven’t noticed have become too cold and jaded by the tolerance of all around, by the tolerance of their church.

Tough words, aren’t they.  But they are true.  These are tough times we are living in.  And they will be tougher. 

STANDING IN FOR JESUS

We are living in the midst of an increasingly troubled world while we anticipate the Lord’s imminent return to collect his Church. Organizations and institutions that people have depended on are not working, and public leaders clearly do not know what to do. Fear is setting in as an ever present partner of many on earth who do not know the Lord.

Often I write about all this when considering aspects of that coming return. But even if the world is a mess all around us, all who know the Lord should be focused on him! It is God’s great love for his creation that has given us the opportunity to look forward to eternal life with Jesus and the Father and to wonder just what is about to unfold. So, focusing on Jesus and not on the events in this world, I offer this vignette from a couple weeks ago for your meditation.

Recently I sat in a quiet private session with just a few others and a precious little girl who was fighting a dreadful disease. For a few minutes I talked about divine healing, about God’s great gift. And then I prayed for healing. As God’s truths came out, as we moved forward to the key point, I suddenly began to say: "Standing in for Jesus here, I say …”

Now I have said that before. This time as I looked into her wonderful little face, at those precious innocent eyes, and as I said, “Standing in for Jesus, I…” there was a sudden rush of the Holy Spirit all over me. I could scarcely speak. I had to take a moment to be able to form words. His amazing presence just took over.

Standing in for Jesus…Representing Jesus…Speaking for Jesus… Several times I have sought to explain that in meetings. Sometimes I have said simply, do you realize that when I stand here speaking what I am led to say, I am in reality standing in for Jesus. This is the Lord through me speaking, healing, doing what he wishes. The Holy Spirit takes over. Always my silent prayer: Take over Holy Spirit. Lord, your will here tonight. Your words.

Years ago once when praying the Holy Spirit told me, “John, if you don’t have time to prepare, I’ll speak for you.” I have always counted on that. I always spend time seeking and searching and praying before meetings and services. And I always count on the Holy Spirit.

It is really true. Whenever I am preaching before a group the anointing comes. There is a strong anointing on me whether people in the audience experience that or not. It took me a while to realize that sometimes those listening experience the presence and sometimes not.

But that is what it is – standing in for Jesus. The Lord through me. The Holy Spirit handling things. That’s the way it works.

That’s the way it can work for you too when you step out and stand in for Jesus.

I AM NOT AMAZED. JUST SAD.

In the gospels I have always been interested and surprised by Jesus at times being upset and angered by the unbelief of people around him. Remember
- “you will never believe unless you see signs and wonders”
- “you do not understand because you are not my sheep”
- his ordering the money changers out of the temple – “tear down this temple and I will rebuild it in three days”
- the preaching about the Jews being the descendents of those who murdered the prophets
- all he preached to the religious leaders in the temple and their not understanding
- his reference to people wanting food after they saw him feed the 5000

and much more.

Jesus is the son of God, a member of the Trinity. He walked the earth as the son of man. He knew what was in man, as the gospel of John tells us at the end of chapter 2.

So he certainly knew many would never understand, would never see. When he was talking to the crowds, he knew many could not grasp. He knew Isaiah 6, that many would not perceive, could not understand. So why so upset?

Well, I know all those things too. I’ve read the scriptures. And I’ve read Jesus’ words about how few actually find the way to life with him and the father, eternal life. So I too know that many don’t get it.

And I see when we hold what I think are really valuable programs on important subjects – especially focusing on the fullness of who Jesus is and all the aspects of his imminent return – how few are seriously interested and attend. There are some, to be sure, strongly focused on God and the truth. But so many others?

A friend who often ministers in music at our programs once said after a program that we could just as easily have done that for 10,000 as for the number that came. That’s true. Same effort.

The cities are full of brick building churches. And each teaches some truth. But most never get into the fullness of Jesus nor warn with the urgency needed of his imminent return and present all the prophecies relating to his return now fulfilled. Not many ever go over all that Jesus said about those who would be in the kingdom:
- must be born of water and the spirit
- be like little children
- believe
- narrow is the road that leads to life, and few are they that find it

One of the great gifts of Jesus is divine healing. By his stripes we are healed and made whole. Direct, divine healings happen, they really do, some dramatic and some not so dramatic. Yet even when they happen to people who are members of church bodies, most in those bodies still never come to a healing service even though many of them are sick. Even when we hold a full day of healing program, people who have expressed interest will suddenly go elsewhere – to work on some project at their church, to do something else. While our program is offering the opportunity to health and life, they have chosen a mundane work task. And at those programs people see God operate right in front of their faces and have their lives changed forever.

The fact is, most people really do not know. They just don’t know. All their lives church and the Bible and Jesus and God are just tradition and subjects in a book. They have missed God. The truth is Jesus is coming very very soon. His return is imminent. That means any day now. In Luke, he says after listing events to happen before the return, that when these events begin to happen, look up. Well, those events have long ago begun to happen – wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, frightening oceans, nation against nation, false prophets, deception rampant, etc.

There is nothing to stop the Lord from coming while you are reading this – maybe he will have come before you receive it.

Get the point?

Maybe. Maybe. If you are one of his sheep, one of the elect, you do. I’ll pray you do.

WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON? TIME FOR STRAIGHT TALK!

Those are the questions you hear the newsmen and the meteorologists ask.

All these horrible tornados. Incredibly powerful! We’ve never seen so many so powerful. And look where they go, at times right into the hearts of cities.

Well….now for the answer.

You will never find it in meteorology books or records. The answer is a spiritual one.

Way back, about four thousand years ago, God told Abraham – the father of the Jewish people and in fact the patriarch of all believing Christians as well – that I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.

He also told Abraham that he was giving him and his descendants all the land from the river in Egypt to the Euphrates River (which we all know is in Iraq).

And he told Abraham this gift was forever. In fact, we know from another scripture that the gifts of God are without repentance. They are forever.

So God gave the Jewish people the land of Israel from the river in Egypt to the Euphrates, a much, much larger piece of land than the current nation of Israel occupies.

But what is the current attitude of the government of the US? Of the man who lives in the White House? You heard it all very recently. Pressure on Israel to give back from the little land it now has --- even to consider going back to the lines before the 1967 war.

The truth is that the US government has been pressing Israel to give up territory for a long time.

One problem – this is not in line with God’s plan for Israel. And remember, those who bless you I will bless and those who curse you I will curse.

Well, get ready for some serious cursing, United States. Serious.

God does not mess around. He is devoutly to be feared. Yes, loved, people like to talk about that. But feared too. His words are true.

It is obvious that the leaders of the US do not know this God truly. They are either absolute unbelievers or just Sunday morning believers. Actually knowing him and believing and understanding the Bible? Hardly.

Maybe there are one or two. I don’t know them all.

By public appearances and actions in Washington, it certainly appears we don’t have believing leaders. They are not aware that what they are doing will incur and is incurring God’s wrath. They just don’t know. Certainly the resident of the White House does not know. And those preachers brought in for prayer breakfasts don’t know either, or they aren’t telling the leaders. The Bible warns against false prophets too.

There have been people who have traced many horrible events in US history to actions the US took that were against God’s plan for Israel. Do you know that? You can even buy books about that. But certainly that is a subject that will not come up on the news programs because - get serious now - the reporters and producers and media in general just don’t get it.

But the US is getting it now, isn’t it? Some serious punishment. And the getting is going to get worse.

Is this all part of the events leading up to the return of Jesus? Probably. But more specifically it is certainly in direct response to the actions of this country through its “leaders” that oppose Israel and the will of God for Israel. That is the wrong side to be on.

Israel is the apple of God’s eye. Do you know that? The Bible says that too.

You may say you do not agree with the views expressed by the US leaders. Well, that is good for you. But you do live here. So you are at risk here. The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. Pray protection over your family and your home and your neighborhood. And to the extent you can, change the views of the leaders of this country. Or through the democratic process that for now is still operative, change the leaders.

BEING TRUE TO "THE CALL"

Sometimes God calls you to go “this” way. But another way – “that” way – would be more comfortable, more convenient.

Going that way would line up with the expectations of family and friends. It is where they think you are heading, now they see you have been called. It is what they naturally expect. It fits well with the traditions of the church your family attends. It would be logical.

That way seems like what you naturally would want to do. But Jesus has called you to go this way - - - this way is the call. Perhaps less adulation, less praise, less public recognition. Maybe more hardship and less remuneration. Loneliness in human terms. Strange, even to friends and family.

This is the way you have been called, and this is where you know you must go. And as you go this way, they are watching. They see you heading in a strange direction. They do not understand, at least most of them. A few may. And you, you just keep going… this way.


Comment:

If you are going to be a disciple of Jesus, if you are going to follow him, then you cannot simply choose an attractive course and action. You have to go where he calls you to go and do what he calls you to do. Otherwise, you are following yourself or the interests of others.

Amazing Events in the Countdown to the Return

All of you who follow our ministry have heard or read my saying how Jesus several years ago suddenly began telling me to “tell them who I am and that I am coming soon.” As that was repeated over time with more specific guidance, it became the overall mission of the ministry – to tell all people this.

I have spoken on the many aspects of Jesus and his return that the Lord has brought me, from all he did and does now to the many facets of his imminent return to earth.

At times I have sensed many would like me to focus more on healing services and the like, and the Lord knows I love doing healing services. But in very clear terms, I have guidance that while I can certainly hold those programs, the focus right now is on Jesus and his return. He is coming back soon. Real soon.

This week we have seen an extraordinary number of amazing signs. Please ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in considering all that has and is happening as presented below:

1 – Plans of the Muslim World – This week a video tape recently produced by the government of Iran became public. Part is now available and I include a link later so you can watch it. I encourage you to do so. It has English subtitles. This video is produced for distribution throughout the Muslim world. It describes the current time from the Muslim perspective. As you may know, satan has counterfeited much of what is happening as regards Jesus and his return, and you can see this here. Basically, this tape presents the view that we are right at the point of the return of the Muslim “messiah,” the mahdi. The tape goes through Muslim prophecy and writings. Certain current individuals are identified as people prophesied in Islam writings. President Ahmadinejab, for example, and the “supreme leader” of Iran, Ayatollah Khameini.

Also, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The point is made that when Abdullah dies, the mahdi should come. There have been comments about Abdullah’s health over past years. He currently is in his upper 80’s.

This tape goes through the uprisings in Egypt and other Arab countries. It talks of wars and such. The mahdi obviously comes in a period of chaos.

The overall objective stated in the video and shown on the screen is the establishment of a new Islamic civilization.

Let me paraphrase a comment from Pat Robertson: When the cold war existed, the USSR and the United States did not use their nuclear weapons because neither side wanted to lose so many of their own citizens in a nuclear war. But that is not the case with Muslim leaders in Iran. If Iran were to attack Israel and in the process lose a huge number of its own citizens by Israel’s counterattack, that would be acceptable to the leaders there since it sets the stage for the return of this mahdi.

This is a chilling video. Many of the Muslim “prophecies” noted in it have already been fulfilled. And the time is short – the “Muslim end times” position filled by Ahmadinejad is to be filled 72 months before the return of the mahdi. He became president of Iran in August 2005.

Please watch the video and share it with others. You certainly cannot count on the US government or the current news media to get this out.

http://atimetobetray.com/blog/iran-leaders-the-coming-is-upon-us-%E2%80%93-israel-shall-be-destroyed-watch-the-video/


2 – Deception – Regarding the last days, Jesus warned us to watch that we are not deceived. Deception is rampant in our world, among political leaders, among the press, among well known entertainers, and so on. Many people are just deceived. If you do not have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you cannot and will not see the truth.

Examples of deception are all those examples of political correctness you see every day – not calling something truthfully what it is. For example, the great physical threat to America and the western world is from radical Islam, but we all see how many political leaders and reporters refuse to identify individual terrorists as Muslims when they clearly are. Jay Sekulow, head of the American Institute of Law and Justice, recently said that we have to stop kidding ourselves, that "The only religious group right now in the world engaged in international, coordinated efforts to kill civilians is Islam…." It is difficult to deal with issues unless they are approached with truth and open eyes, and deception prevents all that.

A good example of such deception just occurred. Lawrence McDonnell, host of a nightly news program on MSNBC, recently went on a rant on his program. He said,“The Book of Revelation is a work of fiction describing how a truly vicious God would bring about the end of the world. No half-smart religious person actually believes the Book of Revelation. They are certain that their God would never turn into a malicious torturer and mass murderer beyond Hitler’s wildest dreams.” ----Sad, isn’t it. Lost, that’s being lost, lost, lost.

3 – Egypt Air, an airline that I in the past have flown in Egypt and The Sudan, has issued a new route map which does not contain the nation of Israel.

4. – Uprisings in Many Middle Eastern countries: Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan - These nations are dictatorships, regardless of what the leader is called. Their citizens would not revolt normally, because they are aware of the swift reprisal from the government, the swift punishment. These are not democracies. So how do you think all this uprising and these public demonstrations came about? Do you really think this is just young people seeking freedom and better paying jobs? Does it really make sense that they would all be happening at the same time? How about considering this is a move to bring about a more united Muslim front. Consider that such as the Muslim brotherhood may be behind all this, and Iran. All these “uprisings” are an area where the deception Jesus warned about is rampant in the news media and the political/government world.

5 – Japan earthquake – Just another warning, another terrible event as we head toward the return and the tribulation. Japan is not a Christian country. About 1 % of the people there are considered Christian. Pray that there are sufficient Christian missionaries in Japan who speak in a way the Japanese people can understand, that the people will listen to them, and that God is using all this to get the truth of who Jesus is through to the Japanese.

6 – The US government – Sad, isn’t it. I remember when we were all so proud of the government, proud of the US . I think we still are proud of the history. But how lost and how desperate and even how dangerous is the current government of the United States? What are we really doing in Libya? Does anyone know? Why did we choose to help this particular group of people? The best the American people can do right now may be just to hold all elected people accountable and to seek to put persons who believe in Jesus in office.


Concluding Comment
Please be alert to what is happening. Considering all the above, and this is hardly all that we could have included here, it should be more and more evident how important it is to get the message out to people of who Jesus is and that he is coming soon. Please, please help us in this. It always astounds me how people contribute so much to secular causes like public television and school alumni funds, to medical causes like the heart association, and to good groups that bring temporary help like the Red Cross, but don’t give with the same gusto or amount to the spread of the real truth that saves people’s lives for eternity. Why do you think Jesus is guiding me to focus more on talking about him and his return than about healing? Here’s the answer: Divine healing is for a short time. Knowledge of Jesus and a relationship with him is forever.

Please help us if you can. If you were in my shoes and saw with Jesus’ eyes what is happening locally and worldwide, you would be amazed and you would be greatly saddened by the great numbers everywhere who do not know him and are not ready at all for his return.

John



Revelation 3:20-21 Revelation 22:20 John 14:6