God Will End All Warfare

Well, good afternoon, everyone, and thank you very much, Libby, for that very beautiful, inspiring special music. What a great day today is. In fact, I put on my Facebook, today's a great day, whether you believe in the Feast of Trumpets or not, it's a great day because one day this world's going to welcome Jesus Christ back to this earth. One day, he's coming back to save this world. What a great day it is. The time of the resurrection, when all those people we've known who've died in the faith are going to be resurrected. They're going to be given a brand new body and live forever and ever.

What an awesome time that'll be. What a great time when Jesus Christ is proclaimed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What a great day when this world will begin to hear God's way and begin to understand it. What a great day when Israel will be rescued from the captivity that's prophesied for them to be taken into. So today has many meanings, the Feast of Trumpets. One meaning I would like to share with you is that about warfare. That warfare is going to come to an end. We see a lot of trouble in the world right now.

Some 24 countries, they're rioting against the United States and they hate us. They hate the people of Israel today. And I don't mean the physical land of Israel, I mean the people of Israel. They are hated. One day they'll get their hands on us, hopefully not on you and me.

And when they do, they'll take them into captivity. And those people will be waiting for someone to come and rescue them and bring them back. I'd like to share with you some quotes about war, very brief quotes. Here's one by Bertrand Russell. He said, War does not determine who is right, only who is left. A second one by Herodotus, In peace, sons bury their fathers, but in war, fathers bury their sons. Winston Churchill said this in the height of World War II. He said, You ask, What is our aim? I can answer in one word. It's victory.

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory, there is no survival. And George Patton, famous General Patton, made this quote about war. He said, May God have mercy for my enemies, because I won't.

So warfare. What does the Bible say about war? What does the Bible say is going to happen? Will we continue to have this spiraling war-like nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom? Will there be war in the future? Yes. And you know what? There will be a war that ends all wars. Well, almost. Jesus Christ is coming back. He's not coming back as the humble carpenter from Nazareth.

He's not coming back, and to be careful, he doesn't even bruise a reed or break a reed. Jesus Christ is coming back to bring peace to this earth. And Jesus Christ is coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he's coming back as a warrior. And he's coming back to bring peace to this earth, but it's going to take a good spanking for the peoples of this earth before they will ever listen to his peaceful comments. Notice Joel 2, verses 1 and 2.

By the way, today's the Feast of Trumpets. Do you know that the words in Leviticus 23 for trumpets is not trumpet, it means just blowing. It means exaltation. It's not shofar. Shofar is used in some of the other ones on trumpets. And of course, there are trumpets that are made out of silver. But the words actually where it says a memorial, the blowing of trumpets, it just means a memorial of blasts. And they figure, well, blasts of a trumpet, it's the Feast of Trumpets.

Do you know that I used to say, well, this is a seven blasts of the trumpet on this day. I looked it up the other day. Some say there were three blasts, some say 30 blasts, some say a hundred blasts. And there were different kinds of blasts that they gave on the trumpet. But one thing is certain, a trumpet gave a warning message and it gave an alert and an alarm for war. Notice Joel chapter 2 verses 1 and 2. Joel chapter 2 verses 1 and 2.

We read this in the Minor Prophets. Joel 2, verse 1, he says, Blow you the trumpet in Zion. Sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord comes, for it is near at hand. If you understand Revelation, the book of Revelation is composed of seven seals. This book of seven seals. The seventh seal unlocks seven trumpets. The last of the seventh trump is the return of Jesus Christ and the seven last plagues. But the seventh seal is God's intervention in world affairs. That's when God begins to take his hand.

Previous to that are all types of things happening that are happening in the world. False religion and death and famine and pestilence and so on. Basically Satan's wrath and man's wrath upon each other. But once that seventh seal comes and the seven trumpets begin to blow. It's interesting, today is not a memorial of the seventh trumpet. It's a memorial of blowing of trumpets. It's blasts. So it is important to understand that there are a lot of things that happen regarding trumpets.

One of which is warfare. And I'm here to say, one day war will end. And you can count on that because God said so. But Joel chapter 2 says, blow the horn and Zion, blow the horn among my people, let them know there's trouble coming. And verse 2 says, it's a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds, thick darkness as the morning spread upon the mountains.

A great people and strong, there's never been the like. Here he's picturing a locust plague and it's total devastation that it has on a land. That the day of the Lord, when God begins to deal with this world, it's going to be destruction. It is going to be complete destruction.

Zephaniah chapter 1 verse 7, he talks about the day of the Lord. When God begins to set his hand to finally free this world, to finally stop this world's hellish mess and race. And we're going to talk about why do men do this anyway? You probably know. Why do people make war? You probably know. But look at Zephaniah chapter 1. Again in the Minor Prophets, Zephaniah 1 verse 7, Hold your peace at the presence of the Lord God, and be quiet.

For the day of the Lord is at hand. What signals the day of the Lord? Those seven trumpets. That's when God begins to set his hand. When God takes hold, remember he has them after the first six heavenly signs of the sixth, he says, Wait a minute, hold back things. Don't let anything happen until I seal my servants in their foreheads. 144,000 from Israel and the innumerable multitude. I don't want to punish them. Seal them. Now let's go after, let's let things fly after that.

He says, For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, and he has bidden his guests. And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king's children. And all such is be clothed with strange apparel. Going down to verse 14. The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and haste greatly.

Even the voice of the day of the Lord. What's going to be the voice? The shouting, the introduction of it. And the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. The man who's well trained, who's skilled in battle is going to cry and weep. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.

But, you know, verse 16 says, a day of the trumpet, an alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers. The trumpets are going to be blaring at that time because there's going to be an alarm of trouble, of warfare coming. And one of the signs of trumpet blowing was, watch out, here comes the enemy blowing that trumpet. Again, the canary of Mr. McNeely's sermon will be dying when that happens.

The Feast of Trumpets is about war and warfare. It's about the war to end all wars. And it's about Jesus Christ taking over as ruler of this world. But he's going to have to fight his way back to this earth. The peoples of this earth are not going to welcome him. There are prophecies in other churches that talk about the real Jesus Christ coming, almost as if they took them out of Revelation. But they say that one coming back, that's antichrist. Fight him! When Jesus Christ comes back, he's going to have to fight his way back to this earth. They're not going to be welcoming him in open arms. They're not going to be singing, Yes, Jesus loves me.

Notice Matthew chapter 24. And by the way, I hope you had a nice lunch. Everybody have a nice lunch? Just eat hands. You have a nice lunch? Did you get really full? Are you sleepy? We have deacons who have safety belts to tie you to your chair so you don't fall off.

You need one, just raise your hand anytime during the sermon. Matthew 24. I'm going to try to make this a great sermon. Mr. McGrady says, if I finish in an hour, it's a great sermon. So, no matter what it's about, as long as I finish in an hour, so I'm going to try to make it a great sermon no matter what.

Matthew 24 verse 6. When he was asked, what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world? What's going to be the sign? Notice what he said in verse 6. For a nation shall rise. Verse 6 he says, and you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. When we were in the Cold War with Russia and the USSR, I remember being at my mother's home and when she heard a plane flying over low, she said, I wonder what that is?

Is it trouble? Mom, don't worry. I know what's happening. I know what's going to happen. That's not the Russians bombing us. Don't worry. That's not where it's coming from. But people get skittish. One lady in England could not come out of her, would not go out of her home without somebody going with her, because of all the bombing raids of World War II. She was just a young girl and now she was a mother of three kids, but she could not go out of her home because of fear that was struck into them.

We need not fear. He says, verse 7, for nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. We see it. I'll share with you in a moment how many years of peace there's been in our world since they began keeping records. Not very many, but it'll increase as you get closer to the end. Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in diverse places, and all these are just the beginning of sorrows. Sorrows for the world. As Mr. McNeely said, we understand about judgment, that God's going to give judgment to us. That's going to be righteous judgment. We look forward to that time when this world can have peace, when this world can be at peace, when you don't have to look at people and they get on the airplane and wonder if they look like me. Syrian. Wonder if they're Arabic and planning to do something. You check their tennis shoes. What a dumb thing to do. We check everybody's tennis shoes like somebody's going to try that again. Don't you think it's a little silly when I cross my legs? Oh, excuse me, I just take a net match here and light my tennis shoe. Isn't that a little bit weird? How many people smoke their tennis shoes on a no-smoking flight? But ever since it happened the first time, they want to check it all the time. Take those shoes off. We want to check your shoes. Like, we're going to be dumb enough, if you're a terrorist, to try to do that one again. Or put it in your underpants. That's kind of dumb. But our world is skittish. We're skittish. Jesus Christ said in verse 21, remember he was asked, what will be the sign of your coming, of the end of the world? Verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation, great trouble, great trouble, such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time known, nor ever shall be. This is the greatest time the world has ever known, as far as trouble is concerned. In verse 22, that's what he's saying here. In his verse, when this happens, verse 22, and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. I have an article. I was going to read it to you a little bit later, but I'll share it with you in a moment, right now. I have an article that I used several years ago, in fact, 1996. It comes from U.S. News and World Report, and it's entitled Warfare 2020. It's what, in 1996, they envisioned would be the troubles and the military might and weaponry, 2020. You know what they think? 2020, you're going to have not only bombs, but bombs that release other bombs, and that those other bombs just hover over an area waiting for a tank or some other armored vehicle to come along, and it then directs it toward that particular vehicle. So not only do you have the explosion, you also have these other bombs hovering overhead, ready to detonate on any particular target. They talked about little tiny planes, like drones, but little ones, that a soldier in the forward line can take and launch with a camera on it, and it flies over so that he can see what's up ahead of him a couple of miles and see what the terrain and what the soldiers and what the formation and everything is up there. Little tiny thing! They talked here about drones, as we know drones are there. They talked about all the all the sophisticated computer work that'll be done, and in fact, they give some comparisons about a soldier, just how devastating it can be. U.S. Civil War, data transfer rates, where they could get information to one another, 30 words per minute telegraph. How many soldiers did they need to cover 10 square kilometers?

38,000. World War I, data transfer, 30 words per minute telegraph. That didn't improve much since the Civil War. Soldiers needed to cover 10 square miles, 4,000. World War II, data transfer rates, 66 words per minute teletype. They could get and communicate with each other. Soldiers needed to cover 10 square kilometers, 360. Golf War, 1991. Data transfer rates, 192,000 words per minute, computer. Soldiers needed to cover 10 square kilometers, 23. Future War, 2010.

Data transfer rates, 1.5 trillion words per minute, computer. Soldiers needed to cover 10 square kilometers, 2.

You see how sophisticated they have become? They have now envisioned ships that carry an arsenal of missiles that they're robotically directed and run. And they can position them off of any particular area, and they can detonate them from somewhere else. They can fire off missiles or bombs.

The world we live in is getting scarier and scarier. But that's not the end of it all. Jesus Christ is coming back, and he's going to put an end to all wars.

There have been 240 times, by the way, in the scriptures, war and wars are used. That's it in the King James Version. I want to read to you the definition of war. This comes from Wikipedia. On war. War is an organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict that is carried on between states, nations, and other parties, typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and high mortality rate. You know how high the mortality rate was in World War II? Do you know that 22,000, 22,000, more than 22,000, about 26,000 Poles vanished? Do you know that one-fifth of their entire population were killed in World War II, highest among any nation, as far as percentage of its total population? War should be understood as an actual, intentional, and widespread armed conflict between political communities, and therefore is defined as a form of political violence. The set of techniques used by a group to carry out war is known as warfare, and an absence of war—guess what that's called? Yeah, peace. And that's what Jesus Christ is coming back to bring. I want to read to you a quote from—this is number 7148. It says, the number of wars since 3600 BC. Since 3600 BC, the world is known only 292 years of peace. And I checked on the internet, and I could find only 300 years of peace. Some of them say 300, some say 292. During this period, there have been 14,531 wars. This is up until the 80s, at least. Large and small, in which 3,640,000 people have been killed. The value of the destruction—listen—the value of the destruction that these wars caused—this is unfathomable—would be able to pay for a belt of gold. I know it's unbelievable. I didn't do the calculating.

97 miles wide and 33 feet thick. That's three stories thick. And 97 miles wide, and it would go around the world. How much distress, how much loss, how much waste has been caused.

By warfare.

Old Testament Israel had its battles, didn't it? They fought the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Midianites, the Jebusites, the Hivites, and all otherites. They fought the Philistines, they fought the Edomites, they fought the Egyptians, they fought Assyria, and they fought Chaldeans, or had war with them. I don't know how much of a fight they put up at the end. Israel had its wars. Notice Numbers chapter 31. Remember, God promised them in Deuteronomy that he would protect them. He said, you know what? You don't have to go out and fight. You don't have to get your knuckles dirty. I'll take care of it for you. I'll fight your battles. They know we want to be like these others. Let us go out and fight. We want to get our knuckles bruised. We want to know what it's like to be in a good fight. In Numbers chapter 31, just one place of many that you can read about Israel and its army and its wars. Numbers 31 and verse 1, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, avenge the children of Israel of the Medianites. Afterward, you shall be gathered to your people. And Moses spoke to the people saying, arm yourselves, some of yourselves, to war and let them go after the Medianites and avenge the Lord of Midian. And every tribe a thousand throughout all the tribes of Israel shall you send to war. So 12,000 would go out to war. And verse 5, so they were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, 12,000 armed from war. So in Old Testament, Israel had its wars and made its wars. Old Testament, Israel had its men of war. 1 Chronicles 5.

1 Chronicles chapter 5. Just take a quick look at some of the history of wars revealed in the scriptures. 1 Chronicles chapter 5 verses 18 and 19. There are many scriptures on this. I'm just skimming it. 1 Chronicles 5 verses 18 and 19. The sons of Reuben, the sons of the Gadites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear a buckler and a sword and shoot with a bow and skillful in war, were 44,760 that went out to war. And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jator and Nefesh and Nodab. So they made war because they had their implements of war. They were men of war. And as I quoted to you, the men of war become so sophisticated lately.

So sophisticated. You know, and I'm happy for our troops to not have to have thousands of men guarding so many square miles. But there's still this death and destruction. As you know now, we can't even count on the people that are supposed to be our allies in Afghanistan, where the guy walks into the military uniform on you're supposed to be your friend, and he turns a gun on you and shoots you. What kind of a world do we live in? They all have their men of war.

They also have their weapons, Judges 18, verse 11. Judges 18 and verse 11. They have their weapons of war. And certainly we have our weapons today. All types of sophisticated weapons are used. The drones that could fly over and zap people. The quick response teams that could get in there, and of course you're never going to get away from using some men. Judges chapter 18, verse 11.

And there went out from there the family of the Danites, out of Zora, and out of Eshto, 600 men appointed with weapons of war. So again, they have their weapons. That's verse 11. Notice verses 16 and 17. Judges 18, verses 16 and 17. And the 600 men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up and came in there, and they took the graven image, the ephod, the terraphim, the molten image, and the priesthood, and the entering of the gates, was 600 men that were appointed with weapons of war. So there are specialists now in war. There are specialists.

My uncle was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was with Patton in one of the tanks.

He came back. In fact, my grandmother, my mother's mother, had five sons in the war, World War II, all at the same time. And she had a flag given to her, a little flag with five stars on it. They all came back alive. Some were wounded, but they all came back alive.

Some people, it's not so good. It's not so fortunate or lucky or blessed in that way.

But I remember, as a little boy, marching around, liking, had all my uncles gave me some of their patches. I had so many patches. They'd probably be worth a lot today, but I gave them a little uniform. It was like a little beige suit that I had all these different military patches and buttons and medals all on it. As a six-year-old, I used to walk around so proud. I took ROTC, Reserve Officers Training Corps, at Washington and Jefferson. And that first year, I was more like a private. I wore a uniform that had holes in it. I hope they weren't bullet holes. But anyway, it had holes in it. I think they were moth holes. Hopefully. They were old uniforms, old shoes, old tie, old shirt. Everything was old. They gave us, but that's what we used. We marched in it. I learned how to do all the things with a handle, a gun, and present arms and order arms, and you know, whatever you did with that, I knew all the moves. But you know what? They told us in battle, a lot of people couldn't discharge their weapons. Because it's one thing to shoot at a target, and it's another thing to shoot at a person. It's one thing to see a bullet hole in a piece of paper and a bullet hole in somebody's body. They found a lot of troops would freeze.

So they started making targets in the shape of a person. So the transition from practice to war wasn't so difficult. They also showed training films that would make you hate the other side because of what they did to some of your troops when they got them. So that you could learn to hate. Because if you have an enemy that you've got to knock out, you've got to learn that.

The men of war. Now we just shot Springfield's, but they showed us how to take apart the Browning Automatic rifles, and they showed us how to take apart all these. I only went one year. I would have probably been dead already. I wouldn't have been up here speaking to you because I would have been sent over to somewhere over in Korea or Vietnam, and I would have been dead. The second lieutenants, which I would have been, usually get nine guys a squad, and they get to lead their squad. They have a sergeant saying, no, no, no, don't do that. Yes, this is what the book says, and you go charging on, you get killed. Many sergeants in the military try to keep the second lieutenants alive, but more second lieutenants die than privates. Simply because they're out there trying to lead with the theoretical, and they don't have the practical training.

So that's war. But why does war happen? Why does war happen? What's the cause of war? James 4, verses 1 and 2. James 4, why do people have to fight? Why does there have to be war?

James 4, now he says this to Christians, he says this to a general audience, but he also is referring to people struggling and strife, but he also talks about warfare.

From whence come wars? Where do wars come from? And fighting, he says, among you, because they had trouble, warfare among people. But also at this time, the only wars going on were in the British Isles and the Parthian Empire when this book was written. So he says, come. He said, where do these things come from? Where did this fighting attitude come from? Don't they come even from your lusts that war against your members? Verse 2, you lust and you don't have. I want that, so you kill. And the desire you kill and desire to have and you cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you asked not. You lose a lot of men trying to win your way. You lose a lot of resources trying to win your way, and yet you don't have it because you didn't ask. And if you ask, sometimes you ask amiss, so you don't even ask for the right reasons. That's what he's saying. Where does war come from? Greed. Where does war come from? From people who want more than they should have and more that what is not their own. Let me read to you a quote from... Got it here.

Yeah, Napoleon. Napoleon and a Russian were talking. The Russians said, we Russians, for instance, fight for honor. You French fight only for gain.

And Napoleon replied, you're quite right. Each fights for that which he does not possess.

But isn't it true that people fight for that which isn't theirs?

They want to take something away. They want to get something. And the consequences of warfare are enormous.

How many orphans are left behind after war? 71, 81. I'll get that for you in a second. Yes.

Annihilating statistics. There were 10 million men killed in World War I, a parade of these dead men marching 10 breast, 10 abreast, from sunset to sunset with a new rank passing every two seconds, would take you 46 days to watch. 10 million. To this number should be added 13 million missing. There were also 10 million refugees and 6 million children who had lost their fathers.

6 million orphans. That's pretty sad. War is tragic and war is awful. The cost of war is enormous. Let me read to you from another quote that I have here.

10 largest wars by death toll. All the wars, the 10 largest wars ever fought, 300 million people killed. The one that took the most thus far? World War II. Between 60 and 72 million people lost their lives. At that war, can you imagine on both sides, there were 93 million men and women in uniform. 93 million. The United States alone had something like what was it, 14 or 15 million, didn't have as many. Britain had a few more, I think 18 million. Russia had like 22 million. Russians don't tell us how many men they lost, and they lost a lot in the war. But the one that lost the most? World War II. Between 60 million and 72 million people killed. The effects of war.

What are the effects of war on people? Nations customarily measure the cost of war in dollars.

We talked about the gold belt around the world. 97 feet, 97 miles wide, 33 miles thick, and 25,000 miles round the world. Nations customarily measure the cost of war in dollars. Lost production, or numbers of soldiers killed or wounded. Rarely do military establishments attempt to measure the costs of war in terms of individual human suffering. Psychiatric breakdown remains one of the most costly items of war when expressed in human terms. Post-traumatic stress syndrome, the difficulties that people face. Costs of the war and terror are often contested as academics and critics of the component. How much did this latest war cost? The ones that are still ongoing, Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan. The most recent major report comes from Wikipedia under the financial cost of the Iraq war. It estimated between 3.2 and 4 trillion dollars for those wars. Think of how much money, think of how much good that money could do if it were used in building schools, building bridges, repairing our highways, people building good relationships between others, building good airlines, or whatever else. Think of how much could be saved. Over in 1 Samuel 8 verse 11, when Israel wanted a king, Samuel warned them, warned the people what he would do for them. 1 Samuel 8, 1 Samuel chapter 8 and verse 11.

And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, to be his horsemen and some to run before his chariots. He will appoint himself captains over thousands and captains over fifties, and he will set them to ear his ground, to take care of all his needs, to reap his harvest, to make his instruments of war and the instruments of the chariots. He will take your daughters to be confectionaries and to be cooks and bakers. He'll use them in the war, too. He will take your kids, your fields and your vineyards, your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, give them to his officers and to his servants. In other words, he'll take from you and he'll tax you in order to accommodate his needs.

When God promised in Deuteronomy 1 and verse 30, I will take care of you. You don't have to do all this. If you yield to me and are my people, I will take care of you. They didn't listen.

What about the end time battles? So we've seen enough about war and what's happening, statistics.

What about the end time? What's going to happen? What will those battles be like?

There are some coming. Revelation 12 and verse 7. You know, Satan the devil is going to try to war against God. Revelation 12 verse 7, before a lot of these things happen. Because it says, when he's cast back down, he knows he has but a short time. So I take it these things are going to occur before all the troubles at the end time. And he's going to be one of the prime movers and shakers of the troubles of the end time. But Revelation chapter 12 verse 7, it says, There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels. Who's the dragon? Satan the devil. That old dragon, verse 9 tells you who it is. Verse 9. He's going to fight. Try to take over the throne of God again. Has that happened yet? I don't think so. Because when he's cast back down, he knows he has but a short time.

And then he begins to really cause trouble. Verse 17. And who's he hate the most? You and me.

He hates the church. He hates physical Israel. And he hates all humankind.

Humankind think they're on his side? Oh, if I go along with him in the world, everything is hunky-dory with me. Look how many blessings I can have. Not blessings. Not from God. He's buying you off. He's buying you off. And he will only lead you to the worst time the world has ever seen. The Great Tribulation. That's what Satan's aim is. He hates people.

He hates church. He hates physical Israel because physical Israel were God's people. That he called in a physical way. He hates the church because they are spiritual Israel.

But he hates all humankind. And verse 17, it says, And the dragon was wroth with a woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed.

War with the church. That's the woman, the remnant, the end-time people, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.

We also find, along this time, around this time in Daniel 11, I'm not going to go there. I'll just give you that reference, verses 9 to 16, the king of the south and the king of the north engage in some battles. And maybe the king of the south is already forming.

Maybe it's already forming. And they will say, you know what? The United States has Canada and it can get its own oil, but you Europeans don't have any. We can shut you off. You haven't been exactly supportive. As you know, in the Sudan, they trampled on German flag. I'm surprised the Germans didn't send a hit squad over there and take care of those people. They were jumping up and down on the German flag, setting fire to their embassy. What did the Germans do? They took an eye on them. Now they look like Americans. We'll take it out. What a shame. That's the world we live in.

King of the south will push against the king of the north, we believe will be that revived Roman Empire and the king in the north will clean their clock. Clean their clock.

Joel chapter 3. There will be a final battle.

Joel chapter 3. Prophet Joel speaks a lot about the day of the Lord, the time when God intervenes. Joel chapter 3 verse 9, we see that final battle. Verse 9, he says, proclaim you this among the Gentiles. Tell those that are on the other side, prepare for war.

Wake up your mighty men, get them already, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Come on! And notice that the antithesis of Isaiah 2 and Micah 4, beat your plowshares into swords.

Quit making implements of peace and start the production of war implements.

And you're pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I'm strong. Will any of your people that feel weak, let them say they're strong. Assemble yourselves and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves round about there because your mighty ones to come down. Get them already and cause your mighty ones to come down. Let the heathen be awakened and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Wait till I get my hands on them. He says, put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. You see, you can't hurt God. You can't hurt God.

You like a good fight? Just wait. You know, some of you like to argue, some of you like to fuss, some of you like to fight. Wait till you get the fight, because the saints, remember, are going to rise in the air and meet Jesus Christ at His return. And I don't know if He's still pouring out the seven last plagues or not at that time, but He talks about armies coming out of heaven. That's probably His angels on white horses. They might be bringing some empty white horses for you to ride when you're changed to spirit. God has must have spiritual stables in the sky. He's got spiritual white horses, and not only He's riding them, but the angels too.

He says in verse 13, put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you done. Presses full. The fats overflow for their wickedness is great. Mauditudes, mauditudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near upon in the valley of the decision. The sun and the moon, not going to give her light, and the stars will withdraw their shining, and the Lord shall roar out of Zion. God's not coming back as a humble carpenter from Nazareth. He's coming back with power and majesty and might. They will be gathered together at Armageddon. Revelation 16, verse 14.

They'll be gathered together at Armageddon.

Then look at this real quickly. Revelation 16 and verse 14. It's the sixth vial, by the way, that's opened, and after that sixth vial, the way is prepared for these kings to come and gather at Jerusalem. Jerusalem's going to be a burden. Some stone, Zephaniah, Zechariah said this, right to the very end. They'll be fighting over it. I want that. That's Islamic. No, that's Jewish. No, that's Christian. No, that's Islamic. No, that's Jewish. No, that's Christian.

They're going to be fighting over Jerusalem until Jesus Christ comes back. And in fact, when he comes back, he's going to have to beat them out of there. We'll see that in a moment.

But Revelation 16, 14, he said, for they are the spirits of devils working miracles who inhabit these leaders at the end. They're going to be crazed, which go forth to the kings of the earth and the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Because again, Satan the devil thinks he could win against God again. He already knows he lost.

He's going to try to whip these guys into thinking they can win, and they're not.

Verse 15, Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon, or the Valley of Megiddo.

That's where they're gathered. They end up fighting near Jerusalem in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Revelation 17, 14 tells you they will fight God.

Revelation 17, 14. These shall make war with the Lamb. The power, the ultimate power that's left, the beast power, will make war with the Lamb.

Verse 14, And the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and king of kings, and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Who's going to be there to put them down? In Revelation 11, verses 15 to 18.

What happens at that seventh trump? Mr. McNeely mentioned this, but I want to read it again.

It's important. At that last trump, the seventh trump of the book of Revelation, and the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. When they proclaim that, is the world going to say, oh, we welcome you. Oh, you're Jesus. We've been waiting for you. They've had a false picture.

They've had a false description of Jesus Christ. And he comes back to this earth. He will not be welcomed, but he will be proclaimed. And the four and twenty elders which sat before the throne fell on their faces and worshiped God. And notice what they said, verse 17, saying, we give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which are and was and are to come, because you have taken to you your great power and have reigned. And the nations were angry.

They weren't happy, and they're not going to be happy. But they better learn to be happy, because Jesus Christ said every knee is going to bow before him, even if he has to break it.

It is going to bow before him. Zechariah 14, verses 1-3, when Jesus Christ comes back, he's going to come back as a warrior. He's going to come back in fight mode. He's going to come back as the Savior, as the Lord, as the God, as the commander of the armies. One of his names is the Lords of Sabaloth, the Lord of hosts. It means the commander of the armies. Zechariah 14, verse 1, Behold, the day of the Lord comes, remember the day of the Lord, when God intervenes. The day of the Lord comes, and your spoil shall be divided in the midst of you. And I will gather all nations against Jerusalem. They're going to come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

To Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. So again, you have this scenario. Jerusalem's in trouble when he comes back, but verse 3, Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle, just like a warrior fights. He's coming back to fight. And you know what Zechariah also brings out? Verse 12, And this shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet. I'll be standing there, and all of a sudden, what happened to my arm? What happened to my leg? Their body will just, God will liquefy them.

Their eyes will disappear in their sockets. God doesn't have to have an M16 rifle.

He doesn't have to have a bomb or a missile that shoots some munitions out. He doesn't have to have a tank. He doesn't have to have any super communications, because he already has that.

He's coming back with power. And their flesh shall consume away while they stand. Their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in its mouth. God has power to use. Revelation 19. Revelation 19.

Revelation chapter 19, we find this wonderful time. Today is a great day, and I didn't mean it to be heavy, but I wanted to help you have hope that what you hear. And, you know, I watch the news. My heart breaks for what's happening to our country. My heart breaks for what I see occurring, and as Mr. Troy Phelps pointed out, this really isn't our country. Our country is the kingdom of God, but this is the country of my nativity. My heart breaks to see what's happening. This is physical Israel, the Israelites, the remnant of Israel, physical Israel. My heart breaks.

My heart breaks with what's going to happen to them in the future. Millions to be taken into captivity. Millions can your mind even conceive? Well, there are already millions in captivity. Do you know that? Millions of people traded as slaves already.

That God's going to have to come back and bring them back, and we'll see that.

Revelation 19 verse 11. So I have not opened, and behold, a white horse.

I always liked, I always liked, Opel Oncacity wrote a white horse. I always liked, Lone Ranger, he wrote a white horse. I always liked my heroes to be identified. White Pearl, his pistol, White Hat, White Horse. You knew who they were, and they always won.

Not like modern days, they have heroes being killed and, you know, left maimed or whatever else. They always won. Our hero will win. Jesus Christ.

He sat upon their, and the, he that sat upon him, the horse, was called Faithful and True, Jesus Christ. Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge Mr. McNeely's sermon and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, because he's going to be King of Kings. And he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself, he had a clothes, he was clothed, a vesture dipped in blood.

I think of Rambo after he lost the girl that he liked in the Rambo, whatever, two or three, two, I think it was, where he took off, took that bandana, and he wrapped it around his head.

I'm ready for trouble. You're ready for trouble, I'm ready for trouble, that's what God says.

His name is called the Word of God, and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clean, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Now I take it these are the angels, but who's going to rise up to meet him in the air, 1 Thessalonians 4, and come back with him? Us. You like a good fight? You'll get one. You want a fight where you can't get hurt? You'll get one. You want a fight where you have all types of weapons that you could use? Unknown to those that are shooting their missiles at you? Ooh, that nice tribe that went right through me.

Spirit beings doesn't bother them. Nice try. It didn't hurt. But watch this. Your eyes disappear, your nose disappears, your... Try this on for size. God is going to have to bring this, the world to its knees before the world will listen to him. He'll get their attention. Heavenly signs didn't get their attention. He's going to get their attention when he comes back.

Verse 15, and out of his mouth goes a sharp sword with it. He should smite the nation. He'll just say, that be done to you, that be done to you, that be done to you. He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. He comes back. He's coming back to make war. But a war that'll end all wars. And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In Isaiah 27, I'm not going to go there, just refer you to it, verses 12 and 13. You find he has to beat the nations off to let his people go. Let my people go. Physical Israelites in captivity. He's going to bring them back to their homeland, and he's going to plant them. Daniel 2, verses 34 and 35, we have this vision of the world-ruling kingdoms. What's going to happen at the end? What's going to take place? Daniel, chapter 2, verses 34 and 35, this vision that he had. Daniel 2, verses 34 and 35. He said, "'Til you saw till that a stone was cut out without hands,' that's Christ, which smote the image upon the feet that were of iron and clay." And he had this great image, and he comes, you know, you never fight somebody by hitting them on the feet. Come on, let's box a little. How many boxers get any points for hitting somebody on the toes? All right, let's box, boom, boom, hit you on your toe. I guess I hurt you there. Why is he fighting them and hitting them on their toes? Because that's the last remnant. He's not hitting them in the head of gold, or the body of silver, or the brass, hitting them on the toes.

Those ten nations at the end that he's going to have to break. He says, "'Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold became like chaff, where broken pieces together became like chaff, of the summer threshing floor and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them. And the stone,' this is verse 35, last part of it, which you saw, the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.'" The verses 44 and 45 make it clearer to us. And in the days of these kings, what kings? The king's going to be ruling at the end time.

The days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces. That's war.

It'll break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. It shall stand forever. Verse 45, for as much as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces, the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God is made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. The dream is certain, and the interpretation is sure that final battle when God brings this world to its knees.

I want to read you two more quotes about war as I conclude this sermon.

Three more brief scriptures.

This one's by Plato. He said, only the dead have seen the end of war. Only the dead have seen the end of war. H. G. Wells said this, if we don't end war, war will end us. But I'm here to tell you where we'll be ended. You know Isaiah 2.4.

They're going to beat their swords in the plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

You know Isaiah 11 and verse 9, where he says, they'll not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.

They'll not hurt again because God is going to be there.

Now, there will be two final battles once the millennium starts. Apparently, Gog and Magog, description of the USSR or the Russian hordes that are still left, are going to think Jerusalem is great pickings. Who could stop us? We can just get on there and they don't have any military. They don't have any by protecting them. We'll get on and try to take over. Ezekiel 38 and 39.

And God says, I'll take care of you for that. And they'll be burying them for buns when they try to come up against God's people. And then one final one at the end is spiritual Gog and Magog in Revelation 20, when apparently those who don't believe anymore at the end of the millennium are going to try to gather together and come up and confront God and his people. And they will also be dismissed. But as far as the wars that this world has known, they will end when Jesus Christ comes back. The war to end all wars. This is a great day because it pictures a time when Jesus Christ will rule and will bring war to an end.

Isaiah 32, my last scripture. Isaiah 32, verses 16 to 18. We read this wonderful prophecy. And then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the field.

And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. God speed the day, the time, that's pictured by this awesome feast of trumpets when God will put an end to war.