Please note: My
message for our time right now is the return of the Lord. It is an assignment that I must carry
out. His return is imminent. The signs of that return are abundant. The fulfillment of the prophecies of things
to happen before his return are evident.
In that focus, we have looked at and must continue to look at the key
Bible scriptures and the events of our day, the details of what is happening
around us. We must not be ignorant. As he himself warns, we must be alert.
Not long
ago my wife and I watched the movie The Monument
Men. It is a true story about a
small group of art experts near the end of WWII who were put into the army and
separately and together risked their lives throughout Europe searching to save
the great art treasures of the western world.
These treasures had been stolen by the German military from the great
museums and collections and had been hidden somewhere or were on the way back
to Germany to be put into a museum called the Fuehrer museum.
I’m
talking about the great art treasures of the western world, the things that are
at the heart of mankind’s human achievements, at the heart of western culture,
such as paintings by Raphael and Rembrandt and sculptures by Michelangelo. The German military, including the SS, was
still amazingly taking these away from the western European countries even as
the defeat of the Third Reich neared. As
the movie ensued, it was discovered that many were hidden in various
mines. It also was shown that as the end
neared, the Germans were destroying great works rather than let them get back
where they should be.
These
art experts in discovering some of the art found a huge gold collection that
had been hidden in a mine and also they found barrels of gold removed from
human teeth, the gold no doubt taken from those killed in the concentration
camps.
All just
another horrible aspect of this devastating and evil part of our human
history. As I thought of all this I was
reminded of my friend Judy, a Jew. Years
ago when I lived in Hastings-on-Hudson in New York, Judy was a family
friend. One time in particular I recall
that someone in the family was talking about grandparents or other older
relatives, perhaps anticipating a visit.
And Judy spoke up, saying she always found it interesting to hear other
people talk about their ancestors.
Why? Because, she said,
because…she had none.
And so
of course there is a message for us here in thinking about Germany and WWII. As I watched the movie, I thought of this…and
you should too:
Hitler
was a charismatic leader, very popular as he rose to power. He was absolute evil, the definition of
evil. A mad man many would say. The great horror with this is that so many
Germans let him rule and followed his insane orders and killed so many and
caused such destruction. Under his
command the horrible SS and many of the regular German armies committed
outrageous actions as I hope all of you know.
And in Germany the mass of the churches did not speak up, did not object
strenuously enough, did not try to stop all this, did not risk their lives to
stop it. Only a few did, the most famous
being Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
And the
end result was that the people followed this version of satan in the flesh.
And now
where are we in this world? First, as
always, we must recognize we are in the last of the last days before the return
of Jesus. The prophecies of things to
happen before his return have occurred or are being fulfilled. And he will soon come at the appointed
time. It will happen, no matter what and
how much people pray, the return is at the appointed time.
In this
current world one of the horrific signs of evil in these last days is the
terrible actions of the group known as radical muslims, a group estimated at
having anywhere from 50 million to maybe 200 million people. You know some of their names of members of
this group – ISIS, AL QUEDA and its various branches in YEMEN and elsewhere,
BOKO HARAN in Nigeria, and so on. There
are quite a few, together with all their hidden group participants located in
the western countries and carrying out horrors like the recent Paris attacks.
These
groups kill innocent people – Christians and non-Christians, even muslims who
do not think exactly like they do. Some
just kill men, women, and children in barbaric fashion. They make videos of their killings, with one recently
even showing a young boy doing the killing.
Dear friends, this is evil, real evil.
We have had some representatives of these terrorists doing horrible
things in the US, such as the horrible 9/11 where almost 3000 were killed and
the Boston marathon attack. Oh, there
have been other such attacks on Americans, such as the attack on the US Cole in
Yemen and on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and a still earlier
attack on the World Trade Center.
And so,
think for a minute how the leader of this country still today refuses to use
the word islam or muslim in describing these groups, and often refers to the
horrible actions as the actions of individuals or a few. The most egregious such description was used
of the muslim military man at Fort Hood who killed many, shouting Allah be
praised in Arabic while he did this.
This was described by our government as workplace violence.
Have you
noticed how the French prime minister has said France is at war with radical islam.
And the British prime minister has said
much the same. Not so the leader of the
US or his staff. Or many of the blind
talking heads of the political and media and university world in the US.
I ask
you, what Christian group do you know of that is out there killing thousands,
cutting off heads, poking out the eyes of children, kidnapping young women and
making them slaves, subjugating women and holding them in a much lower life
style? The answer is none. Even the extremely liberal comedian Bill Maher
boldly stepped out to say much the same thing as I just said!
How many
of the horrors are being committed by the radical muslim groups? All.
How about all.
This my
friends is a battle between this largest of the lost religions, islam, and the
rest of humanity, especially focusing on Christianity and the West. Islam is a
false religion. Allah is not the god of
Christianity.
I hear
people say islam is a religion of peace.
Doesn’t look like peace to me.
Islam spread right from the outset by violence. That is how centuries ago it spread
throughout the Mediterranean and into lower western Europe. Thank God for the forces there that stopped
it. How did they stop it? By defeating it militarily.
What
about the churches? Most individual churches in America do not
preach the full gospel of Jesus. They do
not talk about his imminent return. A
great majority do not teach about the Holy Spirit, nor that the healings and
miracles are for today. They are
essentially dead, some so cold it is difficult for me to visit and sit
there. And the ones that have lively
praise music and friendly activities to attract the young still are not
teaching the full gospel and the return of Jesus nor the power and reality of
the Holy Spirit.
I think
of America today as being much like Germany in the late 1930’s and early
1940’s. Do you ever wonder how in the
world a person like Hitler could have gotten control of a nation full of bright
people like Germany? Well, if you are a
discerning American you should be able to understand today.
Sadly,
most Americans on the street seem to know nothing about much of anything of
substance. You see that in the
interviews on the talk shows. And those
that do seem to know do not know what to do.
There
are serious Christians interceding in prayer for America and Americans,
repenting for the country and people and hoping for an end-time revival, an
awakening. Why wouldn’t we all hope for
this! And it will come. I have it on good authority. But when I do not know. Before the return, in the midst of the
horrible tribulation period, or later?
Don’t know.
“Watch out that you are not deceived.” [Luke
21:8 NIV] - the
first words out of Jesus’ mouth when the disciples asked about his return.
“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all
that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of
Man.” [Luke 21:36
NIV] – his warning after describing events to happen at the
return time.
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!
(January 2015)
Copyright © 2015 by John Newlin
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