“I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. YOU ARE FAR MORE VALUABLE TO GOD than they are.” (Matthew 6:25-26)
“…knowing the fear of the Lord, WE PERSUADE OTHERS…For THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONTROLS US (sunechō: holds us together), because we have concluded this: JESUS DIED FOR ALL, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for HIM WHO FOR THEIR SAKE DIED AND WAS RAISED…And all of this is A GIFT FROM GOD, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, NO LONGER COUNTING PEOPLE’S SINS AGAINST THEM…we are Christ’s ambassadors (presbeuō: to be elderly or mature); God is making His appeal THROUGH US. We speak for Christ when we plead, “COME BACK TO GOD!” (2 Corinthians 5: 11-15, 18-20)
Remember what Jesus said, “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree (Israel). When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout (when Israel, for the second time, becomes a nation), you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know His return is very near, RIGHT AT THE DOOR. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until ALL THESE THINGS TAKE PLACE.” (Matthew 24:32-34) Israel became a Nation on May 14th, 1948, This may will be 75 years.
TWO MAJOR THINGS WILL TAKE PLACE:
- GOD WHO LOVES US SO MUCH, WILL KEEP US FROM HIS WRATH: “For God did not APPOINT US TO WRATH, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…Therefore COMFORT EACH OTHER and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, 11) “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP (harpazō: to snatch away, rapturo in Latin) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD. Therefore COMFORT ONE ANOTHER with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
- ISRAEL WILL NOT ACCEPT CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH, SO THEY WILL BE LEFT BEHIND: Jesus said to the Jews, “I have come in my Father’s name, and YOU DO NOT ACCEPT ME; but if someone else comes in HIS OWN NAME (the anti-christ) YOU WILL ACCEPT HIM.” (John 5:43) Daniel says, “the people of THE PRINCE (the anti-christ) who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then HE SHALL CONFIRM A COVENANT (the Jews are deceived into thinking this is the Messiah) with many for ONE WEEK (7 years); But in the middle of the week (3 ½ years) He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.” (Daniel 9:26-27) This is when the Jews realize they have been deceived and escape “the woman (Israel) was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME (the last 3 ½ years of the great tribulation), from the presence of THE SERPENT (the anti-christ).” (Revelation 12:14)
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham