AWAKE XII: - A
Various events that have taken place in the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century have opened the eyes of many Christians to the possibility of many fulfilled prophecies. Many are beginning to be aware that the events unfolding today are signs of the last days.
The twentieth century was an unprecedented period of change, a period of exponential in crease in knowledge. We have never witnessed any other time in history where there have been more changes, as quickly, in science, medicine, technology and in the political structure of the world.
There has been:
More changes in science in a single year than formerly occurred in a century
The introduction of the concept of a World Government, made real by the United Nations paints a scenario that is in harmony with prophecy concerning a future world government.
We are experiencing the near total collapse of all ethical and moral values.
"Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. [Matthew 24:4-14]
"Armageddon is now near not because of this event or that event which may, in isolation, looks like a prophetic fulfillment. Rather, it is because of the very nature of what causes Armageddon, coupled with the fact that our world today is rapidly assuming, on a global scale, the characteristics of that which underlies Armageddon." [William R. Goetz, Armageddon Next]
The world is falling into chaos, especially our western world... According to Malcolm Muggeridge; "The basic condition for a civilization is that there should be law and order. Obviously this is coming to an end….”. Just take a look around you, and what do you see, the excessive interest in eroticism which is characteristic of the end of a civilization because it really means a growing impotence, and fear of impotence. Then we have the excessive need for excitement, vicarious excitement, which of course the games provided for the Romans and which television provides for our population. Even the enormously complex and complicated structure of taxation and administration is a symptom of the end of the civilization. And to top it all off, we have the most terrible of things which afflicts materialist societies, it is called BOREDOM. It is not just an ordinary boredom, but an overpowering excessive boredom.
Even the most hardened newsmen who have "seen it all" are in awe of the world developments in recent years. They all realize that something unique in the history of the world is happening today. And what's most stunning about it all is the breath-taking rapidity of these recent developments, such as the following:
The unprecedented vote by the Soviet communist party to relinquish its absolute hold on power for the first time since it seized power 70 years ago.
Events transpiring in the
The failing ecosystem of Planet Earth.
Changing weather patterns worldwide.
The collapse of ethical and moral values.
The weakening influence of our churches and their leaders.
Our world has entered a period in time of dramatic and very ominous change. At this present time the earth is in grave danger. It, along with everyone and everything on it is on a collision course with its Creator. We are nearing the day which the prophet had in mind when he wrote;
"Woe unto them who call evil, good, and good, evil" [Isaiah
Foundations of godliness have crumbled; things sacred have come unzipped. We are trying to build a peaceful world, but there is no peace within people's hearts. Somehow God must reveal himself to this lost generation because everything else has failed us. Education has failed our youth. For the most part, parents have failed them. Government has failed to reach them. Dead religion has turned them off.
We wander aimlessly from one new fad to another; we latch on to every “New Age”, charlatan preacher or motivational guru that comes down the pike. We gad about like lost sheep ever seeking the next “high” or “feel good” drug, all the while our very souls are crying out in despair because we have turned our backs on our real source of joy, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Because we have turned our backs on God, because we have decided that we know better than God, our Creator, because so many of us have bought into the lie: “GOD IS DEAD”, we are seeing a pattern of lawlessness dominating our society today that throughout history was found in civilizations in the process of decline. It is a pattern evident in nations that rejected God's Word as ultimate authority in their lives and is a pattern prevailing in many Americans today. Scripture tells us that...
Because of the increase of wickedness,
the love of most will grow cold. [Matthew 24:12]
America's rejection of Christ's lordship is the reason behind all the bloodshed, violence, racial hatred, moral decay, drug abuse and outbreak of deadly sexual diseases in our society. Lawmakers, educators and the media have made God an unspeakable subject. Even in prisons, there is a ban on religious mottos, including the ten commandments. Even worse, many of our churches no longer exalt Christ as Lord and king.
Because man has rejected God's Word, he has been given over to a reprobate mind that seeks self-gratification over responsibility to others.
“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” [Romans 1:24-32]
It's the false teaching of Antinomianism that teaches since faith alone is necessary for salvation; one is free from the moral obligations of the law. Antinomianism considers that law and freedom are opposed, that law is a restrictive mechanism, a product of a civilization and therefore opposed to the free exercise of natural instincts. That is why antinomianism and naturalism, as
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