Throughout the ages the ruler of this world system wanted to be worshipped as God and wanted to be God himself. In the beginning there was only One Religion on the earth, and that was the worship of YHWH (GOD). But man became so wicked, that every thought they had was pure evil. Man wanted to become gods. God brought punishment and judgement on the earth in the form of a great worldwide flood and destroyed the earth.
God gave Noah a command to fill the earth, to be fruitful and multiply. But through the descendants of Ham, man again rebelled against God and built the city of Babylon and said: ‘we will not be destroyed by water again; we will build a high tower and we will reach the gods.’ And in their rebellion they built the tower of Babel. God then confused their languages and this caused mankind to spread throughout the world. So we see that throughout the ages, the ruler of this earth wants to enslave humanity, make himself God and wants to be worshipped as the only god.
Daniel’s three friends were brought before king Nebuchadnezzar because they refused to bow down before the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel we see their response to Nebuchadnezzar: ‘our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and He will deliver us out of your hand, o king’. They understood that God is the highest authority in their life. They understood that the kingdom of God, His royal rule and reign was sovereign in their lives.
This is the whole crux of our lives – who do you choose to worship; who will you serve; who will have authority in your life? Will God be sovereign in your life? Will you submit under His royal rule and reign?
In Daniel 4:3, we see something fascinating happen - Nebuchadnezzar makes the following statement, recognizing that God is the ultimate authority: ‘How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion [His royal rule and reign] is from generation to generation.
No matter what your heritage, tribe or mother tongue is, it is important to understand that you are now in the kingdom of God. He who had no sin, called you by name. You are His. You are now counted as a child of God in His kingdom. You are now in the Kingdom and authority of God; under His royal rule and reign!
Earthly kingdoms come and kingdoms fall, but the kingdom of God will endure forever.
In Matthew 24 Jesus reveals something very important about the end times to His disciples:
Vs4 ‘And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed [perceive, discern, weigh carefully] that no man deceives you.’ Not the Devil but man. Vs 5 “For many will come in My name [preaching Jesus], saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ [I am anointed; I am the holy prophet, I am the apostle of the Lord] and will mislead [deceive, seduce, leading astray, lead someone away from the truth] many. Vs 6-7 “You will be hearing of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, [Ethnos against Ethnos – that means tribe against tribe] and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Vs 8 ‘All these are the beginning of sorrows.’ [all these things are the beginning of birth pangs] Vs 9 If you have ever thought that the world must love you and that you have to be part of the group, and loved by your community, the this is a verse for you: ‘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.’ If you are loved by the world, I can guarantee you that you have compromised you love for Jesus. Vs 10-12 ‘And then shall many be offended, [many shall stumble and begin to distrust and desert the One they should be trusting and relying on] and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity [lawlessness] shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.’ Because of the iniquity of lawlessness, affection and brotherly love shall grow cold. Then the Lord Jesus says, (vs 13) But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. The Lord says: hold on; endure; keep your eyes on Me; keep on relying on Me; don’t look for solutions in the world; don’t look for a quick fix; don’t put your trust in anything of this world; keep your eyes on Me. If you endure, you shall be saved.
In 2 Thess 3:3, Paul writes to the Thessalonians saying: ‘Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day [when Jesus comes, the second coming of our Lord] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin [The Anti-Christ] be revealed, the son of perdition;’ [the lawless one]’
Whether they do miracles, whether they prophecy and tell you what you ate this or whether they tell you the most intimate detail of your life, let no man deceive you by any means!
Paul writes this to the Thessalonians at a time when they started selling their property, stopped working only focussing on and believing that Jesus will come any minute. This caused the Thessalonians to separate themselves completely from the world. They forgot that our purpose on the earth is to be salt and light. Salt is needed where the meat is going off. Salt is needed to preserve and purify. We need to be in the world, but not of it; touching people’s lives; not losing the reality of this lawless, sinful world we live in, where people are busy going to hell. We need to be the light in the darkness, showing the way to Jesus as Saviour and King.
In 2 Thess 2 vs 10 to 12: ‘And with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.’ “Unrighteousness” is not being made right with God. Only God can do it. If I sin, I humble myself and repent, I turn away from the sin, I turn to God and confess my sin. God is faithful and just to cleanse me of all unrighteousness; to forgive me of my sin, and make me right with Him again. So unrighteousness is when anyone comes with their own righteousness.
“Perish” – people that are not in Christ, are busy perishing; busy dying. “Love of the truth” – What is the first truth that happens in our lives? God is God and He is Creator. I am a sinner; I’ve sinned against God, and against man. There is a Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the earth. The Son of man, the Blameless One, He who knew no sin, who became sin for us – Jesus the Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father. And then we call out to God: save me Lord! So we have not received the love of the Truth that they might be saved. You have to receive the Truth before you can come to the place of salvation. “Strong Delusion” – God will send the strong delusion, not the Devil. They will be misled that they should believe a lie. People that have pleasure in unrighteousness, injustice, moral wrongness.
Just like the people in the time of Noah fell into the delusion of becoming gods, so in the end time people are deluded by Fascism, Socialism, Nationalism, Evolution theory or even ‘Christian’ Nationalism, etc., believing as in Babel that they stand together in unity to become gods. In the end time we will see a One World Religious System rising up, just like in the time of Babel. We will have a One World monetary system, just like in Babel where they had their own currency without which you could not buy or sell anything.
Our belief is a Judeo-Christian belief.
The Jews are the Olive tree and we are the Wild Olive Branch that is engraved into the Olive Tree. The Hebrew month of Av which is the eleventh month on the Jewish year, holds a lot of significance to us. “Av” means “father” and due to the tragic events that occurred during this month, its name reminds us that God is there to comfort us in times of tragedy.
The exact day that Jesus would ride on a donkey into Jerusalem was prophesied nearly 600 years before it happened.
In 586BC, on the 9th of Av, the Temple of Solomon was destroyed.
In 70AD on exactly the same day, the 9th of Av, the second Temple was destroyed. In 1290, on the 9th of Av, the Jews were driven out of England.
In 1492, in Spain the Jews were commanded to convert to Roman Catholicism, or if they refused were burnt on a stake. The Jews rejected their Messiah, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and God’s wrath came upon the nation.
But God is gracious and God is faithful. You must understand that what the religion that the Jews have today is not even Judaism, it is Rabbinism or Rabbinic Judaism, which is a teaching or doctrine of man – they follow Rabbis, not God.
What I want you to take from this Sermon is the following:
1. Jesus is coming as the Righteous Judge.
2. Don’t be deceived by any means. Let no man and no organization deceive you and lead you away from the truth.
3. Don’t let your love for God grow cold, because of the lawlessness that is happening
4. You are in the Kingdom of God. Remember, we are not building this kingdom; His kingdom is not made by hands. God is building His Kingdom, and His Kingdom, royal rule and reign, will endure forever.
5. Hold onto, cling to, live and move and have your being in Jesus; in the Truth.
6. Endure, stand and withstand unto the end and you will be saved. Revelation 12:11
This Gospel of the Kingdom tells us that God rules and reigns forever and ever.
Will you abide in Him and live in His Kingdom, under His royal rule and reign?
There is a cost, you have to pick up your cross and follow Christ.
You have to put His rulership in your life first.
God has to be sovereign, above all, over your life !
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