WHAT IS GOING ON? Global Government is Not the answer!Prophecy Chat by Sharon L. Clemens

WHAT IS GOING ON?

    We enter the new calendar year with some trepidation and perplexity. The world is spiraling out of control and pundits wonder how it will all end.

    Distress, perplexity and fear are natural reactions of men who trust in their own human ability, rather than God. Fear is a powerful motivator. This fear will drive mankind toward putting their trust in global government and a one-world ruler—anything that will give them the big fix! Man will seek to save themselves through human efforts, but their attempts are doomed to failure, just as every human global empire failed to maintain peace and prosperity before them [Daniel 2]. The final global leader will be Satan’s Antichrist. He will come to destroy, not save.

This anxious questioning is predicted in the Bible as the inhabitants of planet earth draw near to the Lord’s return:

    Luke 21:25-27—“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth DISTRESS of nations, with PERPLEXITY, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from FEAR and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” [See also Matt. 24:29]

But believers are not in the dark about God’s future plans for this earth and they do not fear. The sure Word of God’s prophetic scripture reveals His long-range plan. All is under Christ’s sovereign control, and He is coming again to “reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven…” [Colossians 1:16-20]

    WHAT IS GOING ON? Christ is reconciling all things to Himself. There is nothing man perverts that Christ Jesus cannot restore. The cross was stage one; He is coming back to restore all things to God’s original purpose and intention in stage two—and He will do it with His wrath poured out on the earth. In Matthew 19:28, Christ speaks of the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory. In Acts 3:21, Christ’s return is called the times of restoration of all things. John MacArthur states that this restoration is a reference to the earthly kingdom described in Rev. 20:1-15. CHRIST IS RECONCILING, REGENERATING, AND RESTORING…and He will return to this earth to reign over it with a strong hand. That’s what is happening.

    Although it seems that Satan is getting the upper hand at the moment, God will allow sinful humanity just enough rope with which to hang themselves. It is God’s way of separating the wheat from the chaff. If we trust in God’s sovereign control, we can appreciate that we are living in exciting times. Do not fear. Enjoy the show. This generation of believers could very well live to be translated at the Rapture.

    Christ admonished His Church to live in constant expectation of His imminent return and to watch for the signs [Luke 21:28; Matt. 16:1-3]. He described the signs in Matthew 24:4-8 and said that they would increase in frequency and intensity as His coming drew near. As He predicted, spiritual deception, wars, earthquakes, famine and pestilence are pervasive and intensifying, in spite of all man’s technological advances. As our Lord said in Luke 21:28, we have every reason to look up, expecting to see Him in the clouds any moment.

    If He does not return in our life time, our expectant attitude is not futile; it will be rewarded. What loving bride doesn’t live in constant expectation of the appearing of her bridegroom? It proves her love and devotion. Christ expects His bride, the Church, to be ready and waiting with her bags packed. For this reason, He does not reveal the day and hour of His return. We are to be ALWAYS ready, because He can come at any moment. This is the doctrine of imminency—the any moment return of Christ. The Church is to exist in an attitude of expectation of His return. That is why we are to wait, work, and watch.

    M. R. DeHaan of Radio Bible Class fame stated that the return of Jesus Christ is “our only hope.” “The Bible therefore holds out only one solution for this troubled world, one permanent answer to the problems of the entire creation. And that answer is the return of the king whose right it is to reign.” [DeHaan, p. 36] And yet, it is also a sign of the times that the church of Jesus Christ ignores the imminency of His Second Coming. Instead, they exalt the reign of the institutionalized, compromised church over the reign of Christ. They defiantly EDIT THE WORD OF GOD and do not teach the prophecies of His glorious return.

    This is a denial of His Kingship and His right to claim victory and glory. When He returns to establish His earthly kingdom, He rides a white horse and the armies of heaven follow in His entourage. He bears the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Rev. 19:16, and yet few pulpits in the evangelical church teach this uplifting event. Congregations are familiar with Christ’s humble birth at Bethlehem but know little about His triumphant return. To deny this truth is to deny the Church their blessed hope. [Titus 2:13]

What answers does the world offer to solve our problems? Because they do not recognize God’s sovereign control, they have only MAN’S SOLUTIONS:

    · Global government [Rev. 13:16-18]

    · Global religion—a syncretization of all world religions [Rev. 13:11-15; 17].

    · Global economy [Rev. 18]

    · A One-world global leader—One charismatic leader to solve all our problems [Rev. 13].

God is well-aware of man’s attempts to rule his own existence. The last one-world government of man’s invention is coming together before our eyes. Our Lord described it’s Tribulation form in prophecies of the Old and New Testament. Globalism will not solve the world’s problems; it will lead to global Armageddon and the final rebellion against God [Rev. 14:14-20; 19:11-13; Zech. 14; Joel 3:1-17; Psalm 2]. The Lord will use the Tribulation and the War of Armageddon to judge between the saved and the lost. History proves that man’s solutions are doomed to failure.

    The believer in Jesus Christ has the real answer. We do not need to be perplexed about what is happening because we have a sure word of prophecy. [2 Peter 1:19-21] Even as we see Satan setting up the Beast system of Antichrist, we need not fear. The final victor will be Christ Jesus when He returns to defeat His enemies.

    Charles Swindoll gave a moving message on the sovereignty of God just after the last presidential election. It was to remind his congregation that God is in control. But he warned them that there are four simple ways to fall into fear about the times in which we live:

    1. A failure to think first of God’s sovereignty.

    2. A failure to think ahead. God settles all accounts. We must get our eyes off of the here and now.

    3. Allowing panic to eclipse trust in Him. “Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

    4. Exhibiting an unwillingness to wait. [The timing is in God’s hands.]

    As I thought about Pastor Swindoll’s words, I thought about the tension and excitement of watching an action adventure movie. The producers and directors skillfully manipulate their audience during the climax of the story to think that there is no way out—that all hope is gone—RIGHT BEFORE THE HERO WINS. Then, what satisfaction there is in the victory. We come out of the movie theater with a smile on our face, because the right man won.

    So it will be when our Lord returns. Just after the darkest hour of the night, He comes as the morning sun rising in the dawn. His glory will fill the earth with its brightness.

Malachi 4:1-3 –
    “Surely the day [of the Lord] is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty.”

I WISH TO AGAIN INVITE THOSE WOMEN WHO ARE IN THE CENTRAL ILLINOIS AREA TO ATTEND AN EXTENDED BIBLE STUDY ON THE REVELATION AND PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE. The study “When The Lamb Stands” is held at our home in Groveland, Illinois, on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. Bring your Bible and a notebook. Handouts are provided. E-mail me at farmgrove@verizon.net or call me, Sharon Clemens, at 309.202.0546 if you are interested in attending.

Luke 21:28 – “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

Reference:
[Coming Events in Prophecy, M. R. DeHaan, M.D. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1962. Radio Bible Class.]

[The MacArthur Study Bible, New King James Version, John MacArthur. Word Bibles, 1997.]

[“Insight For Living,” Radio Teaching by Pastor Chuck Swindoll.]



In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon

[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@verizon.net]