Editions

Edition 494: November 5^th 2019

The setting sun:

Introduction:

These are words of life!

Sunsets are inspirational and emotional; they are beautiful and breathtaking, conjuring up awe – inspiring thoughts, dreams, and much more.

But sunsets are also symbolic of an approaching end.

Once, many years ago I lived in a house (mad house) with a bunch of artist friends, musicians and newsmen. One bright spark painted a mural on the entire lounge wall. It was of a cowboy riding off into the sunset with the words “The End” painted at the top.

It wasn’t really my style, but each time I looked at it, it was as though something said to me, “Thou art that cowboy!” “The End” came up on the screen of my life a few times after that. Shortly thereafter I was saved. That was an end alright, with a new dawn. Other “ends” came up giving way to something spiritually deeper and better all the time.

The ‘setting sun’ that I’m referring to in this edition is all about the fast approaching spiritual darkness and its terrible effects on the world and the compromised church.

The setting sun and approaching darkness:

John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

John 12:35-36 “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light lest the darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.”

John11:10 “If one walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in Him.”

Biblically, sunsets speak of approaching darkness, with numerous terrible spiritual overtones.

Darkness speaks of blindness, ignorance, error, sin, the satanic supernatural, secrecy, sorcery, and punishment – all revealed in numerous verses on the subject.

The world is about to plunge headlong into the tribulation period, which sees the wrath of God, of man, of the devil and of nature all running simultaneously.  But we are in the forerunner period right now, and some low intensity events are already revving up.

The night is coming! It is a frightening night indeed. It is a gloomy, dark night like the world has never seen before nor ever shall! (Matthew 24:21, Joel 2:2)

The coming night (tribulation) will be full of natural upheavals and psychological stress of great intensity. People will be jittery and tense with unease, disquiet, disturbed goose-bumpy, jumpy, quivering shaking and jaw-rattling. It will be the time of the weak-kneed with shadowy demonic creatures of the darkness riding the storms, undetected.

Amos 5:20 “Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light? Is it not very dark with no brightness in it?

This is the lot for the unsaved world in the tribulation. I believe that the true born-again church will be raptured clean out away from this horror-filled world, before it strikes. Tragically most people can’t see what’s coming. They are in love with Satan’s death-filled world, obscured by deception of his creation. They think everything will continue as normal and be fine in the end!

John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

John 3:19-20 “This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

The things of the world are designed to squeeze the life of God out.

Thankfully, the tribulation period also sees mass revival and untold numbers getting saved and becoming “tribulation saints” destined for the Millennium.

The complete church:

 In the run-up to the tribulation period, the true, Spirit-filled, born-again church will grow stronger and brighter. The compromised church will fall away at an increasing rate.

The church must be exposed to the fully-preached, full-doctrine of Messiah. (Acts 20:27) It must be a participant in the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit, with the full armour of God applied. It must be a participant in the entirety of the seven-fold “doctrine of Messiah” (Hebrews 6:1-2)

You may think the above mentioned factors are obvious. They are not for many churches. The “doctrine of Messiah” includes “Baptisms” (plural, which includes baptism in the Spirit) It includes eschatology and end-time teaching. It includes eternal judgement and the teaching of hell and punishment.

Does your church have this solid foundation?

The end-time church must be pro God’s plans for Israel.

The complete Christian:

The setting sun also speaks of maturity.  You can’t become a mature Christian in five minutes, but you can set your heart that way. You can be “perfect” as you grow in the grace of God. “Perfect” for a one-day old Christian is not the same as “perfect” for one who has been saved for 40 years!

The Bible says: Be “perfect” (Matthew 5:48)

Proverbs 2:13 (When wisdom enters your hear) “He will deliver you from the way of evil...From those who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness.”

2 Peter 1:19 “We have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

The verse above, one of my favourites, is so wonderfully profound! The previous few verses are speaking of seeing with your eyes and hearing with your ears.  Here Peter says that there is something more secure, and more sure than seeing and hearing. It is the revelation of the importance of Bible prophecy!

When you realise that prophecy is the most sure thing, a light has been turned on your heart. It’s like the planet Venus (the morning star) arising in the darkness of the night, indicating the dawn is about to break for you!

I tell you that everyone who has not had this morning star arise in their hearts is still in the dark. They may be saved, but are in partial darkness. You can see it and hear it in them.

The incomplete Christian:

The biggest sign of the incomplete Christian is seen in their inability to take correction or be trained. They may be saved and know parts of the Bible well, but they are undisciplined and disrespectful. Normally they will have a fowl mouth.

Their lives will be mixed with some things of God and many things of the world. They will have no real desire to deal with roots and change. They will be self-obsessed, proud and arrogant and materialistic. They will be a know-it all. In many cases you can’t deal with them or even talk with them.  You will know them by their fruits.

Colossians 1:28 “Him we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Messiah.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work,”

Many new Christians are a pleasure to have to deal with, because they have genuinely encountered the Lord and been knocked flat off their pedestals. But some have been sent to sidetrack you into eternal exercises of futility.

Hunger makes you desperate. Most people don’t know the deeper things of God because they have no hunger. They are full of self and the world.

►You cannot know and experience the depths of Messiah and His truth, and the depths of the world and its word as an equivalent.

You must be single-minded in your approach to and walk with our Lord. It is a narrow road of glory.

Matthew 6:23 “If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is really darkness, how great is your darkness.”

Isaiah 29:15 “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark. They say,’ who sees us and who knows us?’”

In these end-times many will not endure. They will mix the occult cocktail of paganism with their truth, to their horrific detriment.

Isaiah 8:19-22 “They will seek those who are mediums and wizards ...Should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living...They will be enraged and curse their king and their God. Then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom and anguish; and they shall be driven into darkness.”

The word “driven,” above is a scary word. It is Strong’s H5080, “Nadach.” Meanings: To thrust and be impelled. To be driven, forced away and banished. To be hunted down!

The word “darkness” is Strong’s H653, “Aphelah’” Meanings: Calamity, wickedness, thick gloominess, and concealment, concrete.

What a horror this is revealed in this verse above: To be driven, hunted, impelled and banished from God in wicked, gloomy darkness as thick as concrete!

I don’t know about you, but when I see things like this, I am so thankful for the salvation of our Lord.

You must be radical, separate from world, have a passion for the truth and growth in grace.

What logical reason could there ever be for not giving your all to our Lord? Only those who have lost a fair amount of their marbles could justify being a half-baked believer.

The incredible, profound, Romans 11 discourse:

 This will shatter many traditional beliefs, especially once saved always saved!

What follows is my summery of the following verses. I have selected the main points, but you can hover your mouse over them to get the complete verse: Romans 11:2, Romans 11:11-12, Romans 11:15, Romans 11:18, Romans 11:20-23. Romans 11:25.

In His foreknowledge, God knew His people, Israel and what they would do. He knew that they would fail but not fall away totally from Him. During their rebellion, God worked through the largely Gentile church to bring salvation to the world. The failure of the Jews was in fact riches for the Gentiles, but how much better when the Jews come back in their fullness! It will be like life from the dead!

God instructs the Gentile church not to be boastful against the Jews. (This is the essence of replacement theology.)

God says that He broke off the natural olive tree branches, (the Jews), because of their unbelief, and for the second time in this discourse, He warns the Gentile church not to be boastful and arrogant against the Jews.

He instructs the church to “fear” rather than be proud, otherwise He will “cut off” these particular Gentile churches. God then says a third time that if the Gentile church does not continue in goodness towards the Jews, He will “cut them off” when He grafts the Jews back into their natural olive tree again.

God then ends this discourse by saying that He does not want the Gentile church to be ignorant of the mystery of Israel’s partial, limited blindness until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. Again God warns the Gentiles, now for a fourth time not to wise in their own eyes above Israel!

So here we have four warnings against the ant-Israel crowd and those of replacement theology. The warnings are most severe. If you are in a church of replacement theology, unless your leader repents and changes his tune fast, he will be “cut off” by God, even though he prances and dances up and down the stage shouting loud.

Many of them are already cut off. They can’t see it, because seeing God’s plans for Israel comes as a “birthing.” They operate in the energy of the flesh and not the Spirit.

What this means is that everyone who does not know and line up with the words of Romans 11 (and Romans 9) is self opinionated and an ignorant fool in the true meaning of those terms. To see it you have to read it and be open to it!

Beware, when the Bible repeats a truth or a warning a number of times in a single passage! We also see this in the Olivet discourse, where our Lord warns against deception five times in that single end-time discourse.

Please note to whom this well-used verse below, is actually referring to (in bold).

Isaiah 54:15-17 “Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whosoever assembles against you (Israel) shall fall for your sake...No weapon formed against you (Israel) shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgement, (replacement theology) you shall condemn.”

Yes you can apply it to the church or yourself, but in terms of interpretation, it relates to Israel.

• Why did God bring salvation to the Gentiles shortly after the cross? It is because the Jews whose job it was originally supposed to be, rejected their Messiah.
• Why will God bring salvation to the Jews as the tribulation gets underway? It is because the largely Gentile church, whose job it is, will be gone by rapture in the tribulation!

Please note to whom this well-used verse below, is actually referring:

Romans 11:29 “The gifts and calling of God (upon Israel) are irrevocable.”

In terms of interpretation, this is not referring to your calling. It is referring to Israel’s calling!

Observe in this verse above that God’s call upon Israel is irrevocable and will be completed.

Now note the following verse:

John 15:18-23 If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own, yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you...He who hates Me hates the Father also."

This verse above relates to Christians and Jews. Both have the call of God upon them and both are simultaneously under attack.

The sun is setting on Israel’s rebellion and rejection of their Jewish Messiah, our Messiah. The world’s day is darkening. The dawn is arising for Israel. Yes, it will be in many huge conflicts as Satan throws his last temper tantrums at Israel.

Relating to the fast mutating and spreading spiritual disease of replacement theology in the church, know that this error (or any error) does not become sanctified in the church. Because it is spoken from a pulpit by a wolf in a pretty dress, does not make it right!

A church pulpit has an unwritten authority behind it, no matter whether it is of the spirit of truth or error, you must be on guard, be discerning and you must know your Bible well.

A church or ministry may have a well-accepted, sacrosanct agenda. That does not make it necessarily of God.

Israel’s glorious future:

I’ve shared this many times, but here it comes again because it is of utmost importance:

This is God’s call and plan for Israel in a nutshell:

►Israel is: ●Elected ●Rebelled ●Rejected ●Regathered ●Repented ●Accepted.

The Israel haters and churches of replacement theology stop at “Rejected!”

►Israel is God’s ●Child, ●Son, ●Wife, ●Bride, ●Husband, ●Army, ●Witness, ●Divorced partner being reunited. ●Chosen people, ●God’s name is on them.

Acts 26:18 “I will open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”

Psalm 112:4 “Unto the upright, there arises light in the darkness...”

Finally

The sun is setting. It is gloom or golden glory! Please make the right choices. You will pay dearly, or be “paid” richly in eternal reward!

Romans 13:12 “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.”

Have you ever thought of spiritual light being a coat of armour? What a great analogy!

Isaiah 9:2 “The people who have walked in the darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light has shined.”

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I took this picture, while on foot along the banks of the Okavango in the early morning mist.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!