<ALIGN=LEFT> Praise
the Lord everyone,
Right on the
heels of the last letter series “Don’t
compromise” a startling new
continuance of that has sparked, which has to
deal with false prophets. If you notice that up
to now I haven’t even mentioned anything on the
war on Iraq; reason being, during these times
many self-proclaimed prophets usually arise and
give their summations. However, one person wrote
me with this concern:
“One of my
friends has just made a remark and I have fallen
into despair and fear please help me.
My friend said
that one of the pastors on LTV (the is
lighthouse television it is a Christian TV here)
on the This is your day program of Benny Hinn
said that the rapture is in about 6 months, I
guess he is basing his predictions on the war in
Iraq I do not know I do not watch that program.
Anyway immediately I was afraid, for my family
who are not saved, for my friends and for my
self.” (S from
Africa)
Even further,
last week Sunday I was eating and decided to
flip the Channel to see some news, lo and behold
I saw a famous prolific preacher (John Hagee) on
television saying something to this effect,
“After this war, if it last 2 months or 2 Years,
the Arabs will gather together and fight Israel
and during that time will be the rapture; or
between now and then.”
DON'T BE
DECIEVED
Children of the
most high God be not deceived neither be
dismayed at these things, because no man knows
the times and even to guess the season is almost
impossible. But let us allow the scriptures do
the talking:
“Take heed that
no man deceive you. For many shall come in my
name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive
many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of
wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all
[these things] must come to pass, but the end is
not yet. For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in
divers places. All these are the beginning of
sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be
afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be
hated of all nations for my name's sake. And
then shall many be offended, and shall betray
one another, and shall hate one another. And
many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that
shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt
24:4-14).
In other words,
don’t let some of these unsaved TV evangelists
scare you into anything. The one I paraphrased
above was talking about sending aide to Israel
and from the letter “Israel and the
Kingdom of God” we on the newsletter
are aware of deceptions surrounding this.
The bible said,
“many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many.” And from the series “Don’t
Compromise” we see that this is well
into effect and with this war, it is
increasingly heightened. The enemy will try to
use subtly in any possible way to sow his lies
and deceits. Be careful of these false prophets
and their prophecies. I’ve listened to some of
them and by what they say I’m startled at how
many people believe their wrong prophetic
guidance of the scriptures. Hear this well, some
things are spelt out in the bible about
prophecy, but unless you have mastered the basic
tenets of salvation (Acts 2:38) you have no
right to or any true proficiency in prophecy. In
other words, do not take any prophecy from
anyone who is not born again. Prophets hear
directly from God; as the Bible said, “he
revealeth his secret unto his servants the
prophets” (Amos 3:7). How can a prophet hear
directly from God and not know and practice the
true tenets of salvation (Acts 2:38)? This is
contrary. Because if you get revelation from
God, he would have told you that there is not
three of us up here, but one. He would have told
you that I’m not partial you must be baptized in
my name and I will baptize you in my spirit and
bless you with a language that is not earthly.
All the prophets of Old preached the
monotheistic deity of God (oneness). Check the
book, I read it from cover to cover. Isaiah
lashed it out the greatest at a people who were
sunken into multiple idolatry; “I, even I, am
the Lord and beside me there is no savior” (Isa
43:11), “I am the first, and I am the last; and
beside me there is no God” (Isa 44:6). This is
the fundamental sign of a true prophet, knowing
who God is and what is required of us to be
saved (Acts 2:38).
My friend don’t
take prophecy from someone who is not born
again. Because they are not with Christ and
therefore their prophecy cannot be 100%
accurate. Moreover, Christ said, “He that is not
with me is against me” (Luke 11:23). You’re
either with Christ or not. If you’re with him,
you’ll get true prophecy; if not, who know what
you’ll received; and because of that he said,
“he that gathereth not with me, scattereth”
(Luke 11:23). Having said that, only one born
again ministry that I know deals directly with
prophecy and that is www.endtime.com .
There might be others, but the point is “Take
heed that no man deceive you.”
THIS
WAR PROVES NOTHING
Let us read a
little more in Math 24:
“Now learn a
parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet
tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that
summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall
see all these things, know that it is near, even
at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things
be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away. But of that
day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels
of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days
of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be. For as in the days that were before
the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not
until the flood came, and took them all away; so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then
shall two be in the field; the one shall be
taken, and the other left. Two women shall be
grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,
and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come. But know
this, that if the Goodman of the house had known
in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his
house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also
ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the
Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and
wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over
his household, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he
cometh shall find so doing. (Matt
32:46)
Christ first
told them that no man knows the time of his
second coming and/or rapture. Then he gave them
the parable of the fig tree. As if to say, when
these things come to pass then the time is near.
But then he said, “Watch therefore: for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come.” How comes he
told them about the uncertainty of his coming
again after he explained to them about the fig
tree?
Reason
one: Even though he gave them an
outline of the season of his coming with the
parable of the fig tree, it was still vague and
unclear because he wanted us to know but not
know. He wanted us to still have that hope of
his second coming but didn’t want the hypocrites
to know. If the hypocrites knew after attending
your church service, they would wait till near
the end of the season then try to get saved; not
genuine. That’s why he said it in a parable,
that hearing they (hypocrites) might not hear
and seeing they might not see: But to us, a hope
that our Lord will return again. You might even
say these guidelines are clear. Not so. Because
from Jesus said this about 2000 years ago there
have been many wars and rumors of wars and other
things that could fit these guidelines. For
instance, many of these false prophets probably
jumped and said that it was “The End” at world
war 1 and two, the Holocaust, the Inquisition,
Vietnam or even the 1991 invasion of Iraq. There
are so many instances in history where Matthew
24 could fit; after all this, the hypocrites
will give up and say he’s not coming back, I’m
going to live like a heathen. But we who are
saved will still hope unto the end. That’s why
he said, “For as in the days that were before
the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not
until the flood came, and took them all away; so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be”
(Matt 24:37-39). Because even though the people
knew the season of the prophecy they gallivanted
until it was too late and without a doubt they
were some hypocrites waiting to see the first
drop of rain to try to jump on the boat the last
minute. For this reason Christ said he would
come like a thief in the night: And though he
gave us the season, know one will know the time,
it will be business as usual.
Reason
Two: It is also vague and unclear for
some of us born again believers because many of
us having quit witnessing and nourishing up on
our faith. As one born again believer said to
this question “what if you knew God was coming
next week?” He said, “I would stop what I’m
doing and go evangelize to the lost.” This
echoes the sentiments of most of us. God wants
us to do that everyday, he wants us to reach out
to the lost regardless of him coming now or
years down the line when we are dead and gone.
As he said in Matthew 24, “Who then is a
faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath
made ruler over his household, to give them meat
in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his
lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily
I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler
over all his goods. But and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
coming; And shall begin to smite his
fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the
drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in
a day when he looketh not for him, and in an
hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him
asunder, and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.” (Matt 24:45-50). That is, those of us
who claim to be saved yet are not witnessing
outside of ‘church’ but in there finding fault
and chastising everybody else.
Having said
that, in the last two newsletters I made an
appeal for those of us in South Florida to
attend Beach Fest and give out tracts concerning
the true tenets of salvation. However, I didn’t
see many people doing that. Just myself and
about 6 others. I personally gave out 2000 of
these tracts (pdf) and the
rest gave out in the same range. Do we have to
do this? Couldn’t we find something else to do?
Are we doing it because we are certain the Lord
is coming next week? No, but “Blessed is that
servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find
so doing.” It’s a sacrifice and having declared
this year a year of Evangelism we should be
vigilant to getting this apostles’ message to as
many people as possible. This is the real
war!
BUT
PRAY YE…
“But pray ye
that your flight be not in the winter, neither
on the sabbath day: For then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be. And except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the
elect's sake those days shall be shortened”(Matt
24:20-21).
This is a verse
in Matthew 24 that I really didn’t want to speak
on because the implications are strangely
profound. It shows the notion that though God
alone knows the time of our departure it is
still not settled in his mind at what time to do
it, even though we know the order of prophetic
events. He said, “pray ye that your flight be
not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.”
The way winter and Sabbath is used shows us that
it correlates in meaning or suggest the same
meaning. Now, the only meaning the two can have
is rest. Sabbath means rest and winter is a time
also of rest or hibernation. This suggests that
there is a set time for the church to be
raptured, which begins our rest and the
inhabitants of earth be drenched in tribulation
as never seen before. God said pray that we get
out of here before that time because when it
arrives, just woe on top of woe’s. You might
say, the order of prophetic events, including
the rapture, are set and cannot be change.
Christ agrees when he said in the same chapter,
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35). However,
notice the verse that immediately follows it.
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels of heaven, but my Father only”
(Matt 24:3). A ‘but’ after a sentence
usually signifies an exception to what was said.
In other words, though he made plain the order
of events, he went ahead and said “BUT” – I
still can take you out at whatever time I
choose. That’s why he said, “pray ye that your
flight” be not in the time when we should be
resting. This shows the sovereignty of God! The
same God who is one and revealest secrets unto
his servants (born again believers) the
prophets.
Have a great
week in the Lord and take your mind off the war
with Iraq by re-reading this letter that was
sent when the space shuttle was blown up;
entitled, “Mark the Perfect
Man”
Grace be unto
you,
Oneil.
www.ThreeQ.com
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