The Days Ahead in Bible Prophecy

I don't know if you've ever been at a target range to do some shooting. When I was young, very young, I used to do target shooting. I was about 12 or 15 years old. My brother used to teach me how to do it. He was pretty good on it. He showed me proper ways of breathing, of how to aim, and things like that. There are certain techniques where, if you do it properly, you'll increase the probability of hitting spot on the target. But there are a few lessons of it. You do have to focus on the target about it. No, you can't be looking around and whatever it is, and just shoot. Because you've got to be focused. You've got to visualize the target. Spiritually speaking, brethren, we also need a vision. The Church has a statement, which is a vision statement, which I'll briefly read it to you, which was extracted from Ephesians 4-16 and Hebrews 2-10. But the vision statement says, a church led by God's Holy Spirit, and knit together by what every member supplies, with all doing their share and growing in love, to fulfill God's great purpose for humanity, to bring many children to glory. Sounds like a long statement. But think about it. We all work together for one purpose, to fulfill God's great purpose for humanity. That's the goal. In other words, to be sons and daughters of God in the Kingdom of God. That's our target. And you and I have to visualize that target all the time. The more you visualize it on a daily basis, the greater probability it is of you succeeding, because you and I have to do our part. And as we're approaching the Day of Trumpets and the Holy Days, which basically picture Christ's Second Coming, which basically show the resurrection, as it was mentioned in the sermonette, and the change that comes with it, it's good for us to keep in mind that target, and to be aware that we're going to be watching that target very carefully. So my question today is, what is it that we need to watch around us in the days ahead, so that you and I are not caught and aware? So what? Well, let me give you a so what. So what? Because if you and I don't do the right things, like the marksman or whatever target shooting, or whatever it is, or if you're playing whatever sport, if you're not focusing on the goal, if you're not visualizing that end result, which in our case is, if we're not watching and praying correctly, so that you and I are accounted to be worthy to escape and to stand before the Lord. Now a lot of people read the scripture and will come to it towards the end as well. And I'll read it from the Bible then. But a lot of people read the scripture and say, well, it's watched so we don't go into the Great Tribulation. Brethren, to stand before the Lord means to be resurrected and be at Christ's coming. In other words, if you and I are not watching for the right things, you and I will not be worthy to be in the first resurrection. Or in other words, you and I will not be part of the bride that will marry Christ. That is so what? Why do we need to watch? The question is, what is it that we need to watch? Now turn with me to Matthew 25, which is the pettable of the ten virgins. Matthew 25. And you know the pettables, so I'm not going to read it at all. But you know these ten virgins, they went and they had their lamps and some of them were wise and the others were foolish. In this pettable is 50%, which kind of is frightening number to you and I. But anyway, and the foolish didn't have oil with them. As you see there was, they didn't have oil with them in the container next to the lamp.

Because it was in the vessels, in the container with the lamp. So there was a vessel like an extra supply and the oil obviously represents God's Holy Spirit. So these people had the lamps, they worked, but there was not enough spare oil to actually use when it would run dry or run low. And so at midnight, a cry came and they all slumbered and slept, which is another interesting point there. But at midnight, the cry heard and the bride and the bridegroom is coming and all the virgins started trimming the lamps. You know, get things ready. And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of the oil for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered saying, no, lest there should not be enough for us and for you, for both of us. So go and buy. And so they went to buy. But those that were ready went in to the wedding and the door was shut. So there is an important point here that we need to be ready. Otherwise, we're going to miss the wedding. And the analogy is the wedding supper of the Lord. And then the others came, assuming that they had bought oil, which is another interesting point. And then it says, in concluding, verse 13 says, watch therefore. Therefore, watch. We don't know the day or the hour. The point here is that you and I need to be watching. Watch for what? So we're going to look at various points of watching, but I'm going to focus on one. I'm going to spend a bit more time on the first one. Because I want us all to understand the context, particularly about events around us. Because we need to understand what to watch. And yes, we don't just have to watch for this one point. We have to watch a number of others, and I'll touch others as well. Prophecy gives us certain things to watch. And we're going to talk a little bit about that. As I mentioned, I'm going to focus on one, but there will be others as well that I will add. But here is a danger about prophecy, brethren. There's a real danger about prophecy. Is that when you watch using prophecy, what is the motive? What is the intent? I have seen, regrettably, many people being so interested in prophecy, but you know the intent? It's kind of intellectual arrogance. Oh, I know these things and do whatever. And some of the things God gives us scenarios, and it may not turn exactly that way, but I know these things. It's kind of, I know of this, and you see speculation of this, and when is the date, and counting, and so many sevens, and so many twelves, and whatever it is. And therefore, what is the intent? What is the motive? I want to show you a prophecy in the law, in the Torah, in the first five books of the Bible, and that is in the Deuteronomy 28. Believe it or not, that's a prophecy, Deuteronomy 28. The reason I'm going to this is to show you the importance of the intent of prophecy. Because in Deuteronomy 28 it says, and it shall come to pass if you diligently obey, or you will get all these blessings, and enumerate a number of blessings, running your season, etc. etc. That is a prophetic statement, but it's conditional. And then a little later, in verse 15, the prophetic statement says, but it shall come to pass if you do not obey, then da da da da da, and then all these other curses.

So he has a prophecy saying, this, quote unquote, curses are going to happen to you. And so, people look at prophecy and say, oh, this is going to happen, and this is the beast, and this is whatever, and da da da da. What is the motive? The motive is for us to repent. The motive is for us to repent. It says there will be prophecies, and prophecies will fail, but love will never fail. So, prophecies can fail. Why? Because if people repent, it won't happen. Look at the situation of Jonah. He went to Nineveh, they repented, and his prophecy failed. What is the motive? What is the intent? The intent, again, is underlined just two chapters later in the Deuteronomy 30, which says, you know, I've told you about these blessings and curses, you can see in verse 1, and in verse 2, and it says, and return to the Lord, in order to repent. And then it says, from verse 15 to verse 20, and I'm just going to be paraphrased, it says, See, I set before you life and death. Choose life that you may love. God, in his gracious love towards us, as we heard in the lovely song, he wants us to change, to repent, so that you and I may have life, and our children may be blessed for our good. Brethren, that's the intent of prophecy. Prophecy is not to say, well, all these bad things are going to happen, and brethren, they're going to happen. Why? Because people are not repenting. But they didn't have to happen if people repented!

And so, as we look to prophecy, and we see these sad things happening, as it says in Isaiah 9, verse 4, we need to sigh and cry for the abominations of the world, because we don't want this to happen, but it's going to happen. We need to sigh and cry for the abominations of the world. Now, there is one man that suffered the consequences of sin, of sin of Israel, and specifically Judah, and that man went to captivity. And as part of going to captivity, they made him a eunuch, and that man is Daniel.

That's why you don't hear about him getting married or having children. He couldn't! And Daniel was called in because the king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. And you can read about that in Daniel chapter 2, so let's go there. Daniel chapter 2. And Daniel had a dream about world-ruling kingdoms since when Judah fell, till when Christ comes back. So it's not all world kingdoms, because before that there was Egypt and other world kingdoms, but it's world kingdoms from when Judah fell to when Christ would come back, and that kingdom would be re-established.

Since then, in a sense, the Jewish people never really had a king. Or put another way, it's like the time of the Gentiles, and specifically the nations that affected or influenced or impacted Israel and Judah, the house of Israel and the house of Judah. So you can see in Daniel chapter 2, starting in verse 31, that he had a dream. And the dream was this big statue that he dreamt of, this big image, this great image. And the statue, this image, it had a head of gold, a chest of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and the feet were partly iron and partly clay.

So, now we have a very important prophecy. Why is this important, brethren? Because this prophecy, now pay attention to the statement, gives us a context. Of biblical prophecy of the nations, as they affected, of Gentile nations, as they affect Judah and Israel until Christ's coming. And this context is one statue from the head that runs down all the way to the feet.

In other words, it's a logical progression or political progression from one king to the other king to the other king. There's a continuity from A to Z. Now, when people read about the beast and this and that, they make a whole lot of speculations, oh, it's this, or it's that, or it's the other, or it's the other.

But if you put it in this context, all those things have to be thrown out because they don't follow this context. That's why this is so important to understand this context. So we have various kingdoms, and we know it is the Chaldean or the Babylonian kingdom, then the Medio-Purge, then Greece, and then Rome. We know it's those four, basically, kingdoms.

And that Rome kingdom, the fourth one, it goes on through different resurrections and whatever it is, so there will be a final resurrection right at the end, which is represented by the tentos in the feet of that statue. So this prophecy is key because it gives us an overview of Gentile kingdoms and gives us a key thread to follow in the prophecies that are attached to the beast power and all those. They've got to plug into this logical contextual, let's think about, hand-gut, where everything's got to hang onto it in a logical sequence.

For us, it's particularly pertinent to pay attention to the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2, because that's the Roman Empire, which then links directly to Daniel 7, which is the fourth beast, which has ten horns. It links directly to that. So Daniel 7, now let's go to Daniel 7.

Daniel 7, starting from verse 4, particularly initially, let's look from verse 4 to verse 7, talks about four beasts. First is a lion, which equates to the Chaldean Babylonian Empire. Then the second beast, which is a bear, which equates to Media Persia. And the third one is a leopard, which equates to speed, like the speed of Alexander the Great, how that happened.

But an interesting point, it's got four heads. So if you add to the previous two, it actually is six so far. So we've got a seventh head, which is the fourth beast. So we have this fourth beast, and look at it in 7a, and I saw in the night visions and beyond a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.

So we see this correlation. So Daniel 2 gives us this, let's call it, skeleton from A to Z, and then we have the other scripture starting to add, as time goes on, additional detail into that context.

That's what it means, all additional detail into that context. So again, the fourth beast of Daniel 7 is the Roman Empire, and its seventh head in this vision is the kingdom with legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay in Daniel 2. So this fourth beast of Daniel 7 equates to that last kingdom of Daniel 2. Now in Daniel 7, verse 7, it says, towards the end of verse 7, it was different than all the other beasts, and it had 10 horns. And so these 10 horns of Daniel 7 represent successive kingdoms, one after another, successive, as we know from history.

And they are at the point. But the point is, yeah, is in the context is a progression, and therefore it helps us to understand where to look for in history where this is. So in history, basically, it represents the 10 resurrections of Rome, because Rome fell in 476 of the current era, and after that had 10 resurrections. Then in verse 8 says, and I was considering the horns, and then another horn, a little horn, came up amongst them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. So this little horn, which is a religious entity, as we see for instance in verse 24 and verse 25, if you look at it, it says, the 10 horns are 10 kings which shall arise from this kingdom.

And it was 10 horns are these 10 successive kingdoms that will come. And then shall arise, another shall arise after them. You shall be different than the first ones. Why? Because it's religious. The others are, let's call it, ruling kingdoms of civil ruling nations, people, governments. But this one is different because it's religious.

Because look at verse 24, talking about this little horn. You shall speak pompous words against the most high, and shall persecute the signs. It's a religious entity, and shall intend to change times and law.

And this one plucked out to the first three. So the first three would have gone out, and not to come back, but this one is different. And as you read through history, the other first three were Aryan type kingdoms. In other words, they believed that Christ was an angel. And this one was Trinitarian. And attempt to change times and law because it was this kingdom that started raising up in 325 through the Council of Messia, introducing the change of Sabbath to Sunday, and introducing the change of the Passover from Passover on the 14th to Passover on Easter Sunday. So you'll attempt to change times and the law. And you can see, prophetically, that that then came up, and that became what is part of the Imperial Restoration through Justinian, which was the first kingdom. So, let's review again. The seventh beast with ten horns in Daniel 7 is the Roman Empire that came and ruled until 476, then it collapsed. It then had three attempts to come up, but you know it collapsed, a wound, but that wound was healed, and that came up again. The first beast of Daniel 7, which has these ten horns, three were plucked out, and then from there onwards there are seven remaining. Seven remaining. These seven remaining were ruled by this church, which is a Roman church, because it was a Roman Empire. And you can look at that history. That is a fact. So, this is then, let's call it amplified, or this prophecy is given more detail to the Apostle John around about year 90. And that's in the Book of Revelation. So, the Book of Revelation is now talking about this kingdom of these seven remaining ones to come, because it's prophecy. So, it's not looking behind to ones that happened before. So, it's actually looking forward, and therefore from there we have what is called Revelation 13. What do we have? Again, a focus at these seven remaining kingdoms, prophetically, and it was the Roman Empire with its ten resurrections. Look at Revelation 13, verse 1 and 2. Revelation 13, verse 1 and 2. Because it's basically saying the Roman Empire will fall. And then in Revelation 13, 1 and 2. And then I stood in the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising out of the sea. So, this is the beast that rises up over the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. So, this beast that's rising up with the dead, deadly wound healed, is because the first three have already been plucked out. And so, it's the remaining seven of those ten. And so, the remaining seven now for this beast that comes out of the sea. And out of the sea is because it's out of the turbulence, a sea which is going through a tempest and is turbulent. It's basically out of demonstrations and out of strikes and out of human troubles and political troubles. And people start striking and having demonstrations. That's the sea, and out of that a leader appears. And so, out of the sea these leaders will pop out. And these seven heads are these seven resurrections still to happen.

It is the sum of all the kingdoms before. You see, it's the sum of all the kingdoms before that this is, because look at it. Now, the beast which I saw was like a leopard. Remember, one of them was a leopard. So, it has those characteristics of the leopard. And it says his feet were like the bear, has the characteristics of a bear.

And his mouth was like the mouth of a lion, has the characteristics of a lion. So, the eith part of that progressive sequence, that context. Now, the interesting thing there is it's using the strongest parts of those animals. The leopard, the speed, the bear, the feet, that strong part, and the lion, the mouth. Very strong components of those. That incorporated into this last one, which is now motivated by Satan. Which is motivated by Satan himself. And look at verse 3. And I saw one of its heads, as it had been mortally wounded.

Which head was mortally wounded? The Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was mortally wounded in 476. It died! Yes, there were three little resurrections, but they kind of plucked out. And that wound was healed. And people wondered how can this, what was called in history, the Holy Roman Empire that came afterwards. How could this be? And even today, as we see that it's kind of collapsed, when it will come back again, the world will wonder how did this come out of nowhere? And so you see, these are resurrections to come. And this little horn is also referred in Revelation 13 as the second beast, starting from verse 11. That little horn is another beast, a second beast, that comes out of the earth.

Because out of things that already exist, which is paganism, that already exists, so it comes out of the earth. And it has a controlling power, exercises all authority, verse 12, over the first beast. But it is like a lamb and like a dragon. In other words, it appears like a lamb, it's religious, it appears very nice and sweet, but behind it is a dragon.

It's Satan. And it causes things like the mock of the beast and others. So, the second beast of Revelation 13 is a church, which influences Rome, the Roman Empire. In other words, what it's called the Holy Roman Empire in history. And there are seven heads or seven resurrections, because the other three were pulled out, and because Revelation is only looking at this context from Yah onwards, it's prophetic, it's focusing on that.

Now, six resurrections have already happened. Let me list them very quickly. First, it was the Imperial Restoration by Justinian, started in 554. Important to the number 554. Come back to it. Second was the Frankish, which is Charlemagne in year 774. The third was what was called the Holy Roman Empire by Arthur the Great in 962. The fourth was the Habsburg dynasty with Charles the Great in 1520.

And the third was Napoleon's Kingdom in 1805, which ended in 1814. 1814 is exactly 1,260 years after 554, times and oftentimes, in which the Church was heavily persecuted. And you know, after that, there was the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, all that that came out after that. Then there's the sixth head, which is basically a Mussolini and Hitler, but maybe you could call it even from the time of Garibaldi, a Mussolini.

So if you just look at Mussolini, 1922 to 1945, but if you look at Garibaldi from 1870 to 1922, from 1905, that period. And we can see that in Revelation 17, because in Revelation 17, it's talking about this woman, this church, that controls this beast, which is the second beast that controls, that came out of the sea, that controls the beast, that came out of the earth.

So in Revelation 17, it's talking about this woman, which is the false church. So now it's adding additional detail. And you can see, it talks about that, and it says, in Versailles, the beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless. But people will be surprised when it suddenly rocks up again. It will be marvelled, and will go to Perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, obviously, whose names are not written in a book of life or in a foundation.

In other words, people will marvel, particularly those that are not watching for the right thing. Because it will come as a surprise to the world. When they see the beast that was and is not, and yet is, and yet will be.

And here is the mind of wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, which points to Rome. So, Rome and empire. And you know from history, that's what it is. Yeah, you have many other cities that have seven mountains. And people can come up with various ideas. But you've got to put it in that context, based on Daniel 2 and all the details that I've added to it. On which the woman sits. And they also seven kings. There were seven kingdoms that came up. Five have fallen, and one is. Why is one is? Because the time when the Church of God understood this prophecy, that sixth one was in place. During the Second World War.

That's when the Church got to understand this. This is when God revealed to Mr. Armstrong that this is what it was. Now, no more is there. And in the end, one is yet to come. The seventh is still to come. Now, in 2019, the sixth has also fallen. But the seventh is yet to come.

The seventh is the final one, yet to come. It's the lost horn of Daniel 7. It's the lost horn of the first beast of Revelation 13. It's the lost head of Revelation 17. And look at verse 11. The beast that was and is not is himself the eighth. You see, there are seven successive. But the eighth is the one that had the mortal wound. You see, it's part of the eighth. The eighth was the Roman Empire. That collapsed. But now we're talking about these other seven. It's also the eighth, and it's off the seventh, and it's going to perdition. So this one is going to come, it's going to go to perdition.

Brethren, this is only one area to watch. The development and the reformation of the beast, which is off the seventh, but the eighth. And the woman that will come up out of the earth to influence the beast is but one thing to watch. People get confused. But if you understand Daniel 2, and you can see the statue of the 10 toes, which represent that revived kingdom, which will be a progression from that Rome-based empire. So it has to be in Europe, and therefore it will be a revived European, ruled by a false church. And you can look at history to identify who they are. You have to keep in mind Daniel 2, which is the statue, so that you are not deceived about what these things are. So you know what to watch. And this false church will be led by a false prophet, which must come. And that you and I read in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Verse 3 to 6. And it says, Let no one deceive you by any means, that they will not come unless the falling away comes first. It is possible, brethren, that the falling away could be the falling away in 1995. I'm not saying it is, but I wouldn't be surprised when you look at the size of the church then and what it is now. So if that is the case, that has already happened. And the man of sin is revealed. That has not been revealed yet. The son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God. He sits, that false prophet will sit as God, as God sits in the temple of God. It does not say that that man will sit in the temple of God, but he will sit as God sits in the temple of God. In other words, he will sit, could be, in a pagan temple, but he will act like God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. He is a false prophet. Remember, I told you this. And then this mystery of Lordess will come, so he is the spirit of breaking God's law. And look at verse 9. The coming of the Lordess, one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders. Brethren, brethren, you and I cannot begin to understand what it means with all power, signs, and lying wonders. Brethren, it will swing the whole world.

Satan is the deceiver of the whole world. Everybody, Muslims, Indians, etc., will say, this is it, the whole world. Because there will be such powerful miracles that people will have to say, this is it. But brethren, it's the antichrist. He is the false prophet.

And this will influence the beast, which will be this Roman Empire, which is the resurrected Holy Roman Empire, which is an European government with ten kings and one supreme ruler. So, yeah, it is things in the world seen you and I can watch. For instance, major change is going to happen in Europe at the end of October, because Brexit will happen. And if you are watching what's happening in the UK, it's a disaster. It is a disaster. There is a strong, a high probability that they will leave the European Union without an agreement, which will cause chaos in the borders. Chaos.

So, it is important for us to understand what we need to be watching, because we see Europe getting stronger. We see European power developing. We need to understand that's where we need to watch from a geopolitical point of view. We need to watch that false prophet coming up, which people will marvel when that will happen. And we'll see wars triggered by the false prophet riding out of the European combined. So, the question you may have, how far are we from there? This is the million dollar question that everybody asks. Now, it says, no man knows a day or the hour. Full stop. However, there are some indicators, because it says you'll know the season. Now, one good indicator, for instance, is the punishments of Israel in Leviticus 26, because those punishments come in five waves. The first is terror, verse 16, which could be equated in a, let's call it, in a metaphorical example to 9-11. The second is the break of your power in verse 19 of Leviticus 26, which metaphorical could be equated to exactly what happened seven years later with the fall of the money market and basically of the economy in 2008. The third, which is verse 22, it's talking about these wild beasts, which metaphorically happened around about six, seven years later, when ISIS and the East had the chutes of beasts. Yeah, because you've just seen beasts represent human people. It's not bugs or microbes, but it's human mental minds which are bestial in attitude. And we've seen wild beasts the way they beheaded people and they acted. That came up. And you know what? People do things to sort them out, but the problem remains. Terrorism remains. The economic problems are still dicey. The market goes up and down. Uncertainty. Those bestial astitudes are still happening. You watch bombings here, bombings there, and things like that. But Leviticus 26 says there are two more waves, metaphorically speaking, to come. One, you can see the sword coming against you, which could be equated to a silver wall. If you watch the news, kind of a lot of people are saying that we near that. And the last one is the Great Tribulation. When you read Leviticus 26, the last one is the Great Tribulation. So, we don't know the day or the hour, but you know the season. You can see these things are coming nearer and nearer. The problem is people get a false sense of security and say, well, the Lord is delaying His coming. Everything is fine. And there is another point to watch. An attitude that the Lord is delaying His coming. Look at Matthew 24. Matthew 24, verse 45. Matthew 24, verse 45.

Who is that faithful and wise servant? Wise? Isn't that interesting? They're talking about the ten virgins. Wise? Who is that faithful and wise servant? Whom is master, made ruler of his household, to give them food in due season? Here was he was a counted worthy to escape, to stand with the Son of Man. Blessed is that servant who means master when he comes, will find so doing. Are we doing the work? Or are we saying, oh well, because what does that servant start doing? It says in verse 48, that evil servant says in his heart, the master is delaying his coming. Oh, it could be another 20, 30, 40 years. Let me go on. And you know what he does? He begins to beat his fellow servants. What is that, brethren? That's love waxing cold because iniquity is multiplying amongst you.

Do you know what people start doing? And we'll go to that in a moment. People will be offended. Brethren, we live in an age where people everywhere, they got their own ideas. It reminds me of the time of the end of the Judges, when he says, there was no king and every man does what he feels right in his own heart. And you get people writing in, yeah, I feel this. It should be doing this or the church should be doing that or whatever it is. Be careful, brethren, because we are taking the focus from the brotherly love and we're starting beating our fellow servants with words that are hurtful and that cause division. Watch, because this will happen just before Christ's coming.

And the master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking. Why? Because he's not watching. And the main thing he needs to watch is himself. Yeah, you've got all these events and all these things, yeah, so you don't get deceived and taken by the false prophet etc. You need to focus on the right thing. But by watching these things you know, by watching the right things you know time is near and you're not going to be taken by surprise. The Lord is not delaying his coming and you're going to be found so doing. Brotherly love.

Because if he's not watching these things, you will be cut him into an appointees portion with the hypocrites and they shall be weeping and gnashing your teeth. In other words, he will not stand at Christ's coming. In other words, he's not watching and praying and therefore he's not accounted worthy to escape. And therefore he does not stand at the resurrection at Christ's second coming. Brother, this is amazing. It fits. That's why I spent a bit of time going through that prophetical rollout for us to be watching the right things geopolitically to know that time is short.

But there are other things that we need to watch. And we need to watch that we don't get cold. You know, it talks about being lukewarm, right? That's kind of losing the heat, isn't it? But look at Matthew 24 verse 3 to 5. It says, now they came and they asked Christ, you know, what is the sign of your coming?

And it talks about religious deception. Yes, religious deception. And it says, and then there will be famines and pestilence and earthquakes. And by the way, brethren, the word earthquakes elsewhere is the word tempests. It's actually in Greek the same word that elsewhere is also translated as tempests. Like when Christ was sleeping in a boat and there was a tempest, in Greek it's the same word.

So it could mean climate change. Put it another way. So it gets hot, it gets cold, there's these tornadoes, there's cyclones, there's all these other things. So these verse 8 are only the beginning of sorrows. Because what will happen? They'll deliver you up. And you will be hated for my name's sake. Brethren, or Christians, in other words, people that have Christ's name, being hated in the world because they are Christians. Let me quote a few facts here. There's a man that asked for asylum in the UK, who was an Iranian man.

He was told when he asked for asylum, the UK wrote back to him and says that your claim that Christianity is a peaceful religion is inconsistent with what it says. It says it's in books of Exodus, Leviticus and Matthew because the Bible is violent. And he said revelation is filled with the imagery of revenge, destruction, death and violence. Therefore, you Iranian man, trying to get an asylum in the UK, your statement saying that Christianity is a religion of peace is incorrect.

And it says these statements are inconsistent with your claim that you converted Christianity after discovering it is a peaceful religion, opposed to Islam, which contains violence, rage and revenge. So this is the UK writing back to this man, which means they're going to go back to Iran and you know what's going to happen to him. This is from the radical Muslims are welcome into the UK while persecuted Christians need not apply. That was the title of the article. Look at another one. In the media, in the same week as the awful attack on the mosque in Christ Church in New Zealand, and you heard that in the media, more than 200 Christians were killed in Nigeria.

Well, did you hear that in the media? There was hardly any mention of the Latin news. This is from Crisis magazine, September 4, 2019. There is a quote from an Orthodox bishop in Mosul. You know where that is in Iraq. He says, I don't believe in these two words, human rights. There are no human rights, but in Western countries there are animal rights.

In Australia, we take care of frogs. Look upon us as frogs. We'll accept that. But just protect us so we can stand in our land. Talk about Christians, Coptic Christians, Orthodox Syriac Christians. Then he has another quote, which is from a French author in a magazine called Metem. It says, threats to pandas cause more emotion than threats to the extinction of Christians in the Middle East. Are you ready on Matthew 24? You'll be hated for my name. Is this happening? Look at Africa. In some regions, the level and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide according to that definition adopted by the United Nations.

This is from the independent review from the Ministerial Department in the UK. Another one from World Watch Monitor, May 2, 2019. The silence asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and those others refused. They therefore were ordered together under a tree, together under a tree, and they took their Bibles and their mobile phones.

Then they called them one by one and behind the church building they were shot to death. Are Christians being persecuted today for Christ's name? People being persecuted purely for Christ's name. Once in a... and this is talking about the African continent and particularly in a country like Algeria. Once it was a majority Christian region, now Christians are a tiny, dying, defenseless minority.

That's referring to Nigeria. A country of origin of some of the Christian fathers, such as Augustine of Hippo, has become a country where officially there are no native Christians.

Look in Palestine. Fatah regularly exerts heavy pressures on Christians not to report the acts of violence and vandalism from which they frequently suffer. As such public publicity would damage the PA, the Palestinian Authority, image as an actor capable of protecting the lives and property of the Christian minority and the Israel.

That image could have negative repercussions for the massive international and particularly European aid to the Palestinian authorities. In Europe, in 2018 alone, there were 1,063 attacks on Christian churches registered in France. So brethren, are Christians being attacked? A North Korean propaganda video obtained by Voice of Martyrs portrays Christians as religious fanatics and spies. Operating on behalf of the South Korean government. Brethren, when we read YAH, at the time of the end, they will deliver you to Tribulation, kill you, and you'll be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

This is happening. This is happening. And look at verse 12. And it says, And because lawless will abound, the love of many will grow cold. I've talked about that. So brethren, we've got to watch these things. Love growing cold, Christians being attacked, being persecuted. And then in parallel, we read verse 14 says, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached. And brethren, it is being preached around the world. This was not preached. But you know, in Amos 8, it says, verse 11, Of hearing the word, take advantage now, because it says, Of hearing the word will be a famine.

So take advantage of it now. Brethren, this works as a window of opportunity. And you and I have to take advantage of this little window of opportunity. And then in verse 15 says, And then you see the abomination desolation. And you know what that is. That sacrifice is being stopped. Now, there's no sacrifices today. Brethren, are we watching what's happening, for instance, in Israel?

There's a new, or going to be, a new Prime Minister. Benny Gantz got more votes. There's going to be a sweep. You and I don't know what's going to happen in that area. That blue and white party is basically going to form what they call a garment of unity. But Gantz, or Gantz, says it will be under him, not under Benny Netanyahu. Things are changing. We've got to watch, Brethren. We've got to watch. And then we have things like Psalm 83, that says there will be a confederacy of nations that will attack and will destroy Israel because they hate Israel. They hate Israel. Haven't you heard Christ saying, we hate America and Israel? When they call it the little Satan and the big Satan. Brethren, our booklet on Middle Eastern Prophecy addresses that very, very carefully, all those points. And also, people don't understand who is England and the English-speaking countries and the United States. So they don't understand the meaning of these prophecies. You tie that with Isaiah 5, verse 5 to 8, which says they will be destroyed within one month. And you read that and it says why? Because you've raised pagan children. Because you've raised pagan children. And then you read, children will rule over you. And on Friday, there was a worldwide demonstration ran by children around the world. If you didn't listen, we need to be watching what's happening.

So when we look at pagan children, to me it means they're not godly. To me it means there's an increase of lawlessness. To me it means there's a lack of morality in the country. Brethren, if you just watch the news and you see how immoral the society is getting, do I have to get into details? But it says, and so we must be doing. We must be doing. That servant must be busy doing the work.

As we were in Matthew 24, let's look at verse 32 through 35, Matthew 24. Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tanned and puts forth its leaves, you know, some is near. Brethren, we can see these fruits right there. Now, surely I say this, that this generation, when all these things are happening, this generation, when all the combined of these facts are happening, it has never been a generation where all these things have happened at the same time. It's now. The Lord is not delaying His coming.

This generation will not by no means pass away to these things take place. The Lord is not delaying His coming. So what is our vision, brethren? What is our target? Our target is to be born as spirit beings in the family of God, to possess the kingdom of God, to reign as kings and priests with Jesus Christ, and the ream. In other words, our target, therefore, to achieve that, is to be able to stand with Christ, that His coming, in other words, to be resurrected or to be changed, as we heard in the sermon, as there is nothing as true as change, to be changed when Christ comes.

Now, I'll refer to the Scripture earlier, and I said I would talk about it at the end. So this is the Scripture I want to turn as the last Scripture that I want to refer to today, which is Luke 21, verse 36. Watch therefore. Brethren, watch what? First remember our motive and our intent. Our motive, our intent, leads to our actions and our behavior.

And that means we're going to have goggly fruits. What are our fruits? Are they gold and silver and precious stone? Or are our fruits hay and stubble and wood? If our fruits are gold and precious stone and silver, you'll receive a reward. But if they hay and stubble and wood, if our fruits are causing the vision and hurt amongst the children of God, and it says, keep the wheat and the chock together, so it will be amongst us.

It's frightening. But you and I have to hold on. I've mentioned it before, a South African expression, fast-paced, quite hard. Just hold on, bulldog with tenacity, don't let go. Watch therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy. It's not that I decide to do this or I decide to do that. Yes, you and I have to decide to be close to God. But if you and I need to watch and pray that you are doing enough in God's eyes, that our heart is clean, that you and I are counted worthy.

Yes, to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand. In other words, be resurrected the first resurrection before the Son of Man. In other words, that when He comes, we'll be there. So, aim correctly, brethren. Are we preparing ourselves to be counted worthy by God? Not by man, but by God? Yes, there's going to be, like a childbirth, birth pangs that will get bigger and bigger and faster and faster. But let's be motivated and encouraged and stirred to action with the hope of the vision that we have. That's going to be very clear in our minds, which is the gospel that Christ brought to us.

So, we need to watch that the statue of Daniel 2, which is the context of this geopolitical world, we watch, therefore, the developments of this beast ruling government. In that context, we know who it is, so we're not deceived by other ideas that will pop out. We need to watch within context who is a false prophet, because it's got to be that Roman Church.

And we've got to watch our attitude that we don't think that the Lord is delaying, He's coming, that our love is waxing cold, and therefore, that we start getting offended and saying things that are going to cause offense. We've got to watch this thing that comes out of you, or out of there, or out of there when you type things. We've got to be careful. We've got to watch for events like sacrifices, and what's happening in the Middle East, because the Middle East is key.

We've got to watch our morality. And, last but not least, we've got to watch ourselves, the motive to be accounted worthy to stand with Christ at His coming.