Mr. John Jewell
Sermon Transcript
March 17, 2001
The Church, Europe and Christ's Return
Now this afternoon I've divided
this split sermon into three parts, the first part is an update on where we
are as of now with the work in Britain, then to parallel that and focus secondly
upon the development of Europe as it's taking place today and then winding up
with the third and final part, I want to focus upon the great and only hope
for mankind, an event for which Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 6, and you don't
need to turn there, but Mr. Kirkpatrick mentioned a few of the words from it
a moment ago, it was the model prayer that Christ gave us and these were the
words He started with: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done." We are to pray brethren for
the return of Jesus Christ to establish God's kingdom on this earth - and why
are we to do that? The reason is so that the next phase of the plan of God may
move forward and that then there will be peace for this world, this suffering
world, the tormented is the lot, day by day, endless day by day for the majority
of the people of this planet.
Now as you know, in 1998 the Church
suffered yet another attack and Mr. Kirkpatrick was focusing very much upon
the enemy of all of us and how he works and what he is doing. We suffered yet
another attack, another effort to further divide and splinter the Church and
thus render the preaching of the gospel that much less effective. Divide and
conquer is what the adversary was intending to do, to try and in some ways was
very successful. In United Kingdom we were hit dreadfully with 13 out of 15
ministers leaving, with ¾ of the Church and rendering the preaching of
the gospel there almost non-existent. Many of these, along with many of those
in other groups are still part of the extended Church of God and I hope we won't
forget that they are, but the United Church of God in Britain today has just
120 people now attending. Some years ago there were 4,500 or thereabouts, we're
down now to 120. As we went through that particular trial, there was another
one in just a very few years, we found we had lost our entire infrastructure
including the offices and the mailing list and in 1998 we managed to put together
a mailing list of around 400. Today, and I have to say brethren, that only through
God opening doors which we would not have thought were opened and through the
wonderful group of dedicated and converted people that we have, the mailing
list we have is now around 7,000, just in a couple of years. We've advertised
in Reader's Digest twice, one of these ads went nationwide. Something, which
was quite out of our ability to achieve, we never even thought to ask Reader's
Digest, we couldn't afford it and it was extraordinary the way everything came
together and we were literally given nationwide advertising which would otherwise
cost us 60 thousand pounds and we paid just six thousand for it - it was a miracle.
It was an injection, an encouragement the work in Britain really needed because
we didn't see how we could achieve anything of any substance, it was impossible.
But brethren, we learned very quickly that to our Eternal Father, nothing
is impossible and that was achieved. We've advertised in a number of newspapers
and magazines, notable among these being the Sunday Telegraph, which again is
extraordinary because we're getting responses to that particular advertisement
in the Sunday Telegraph six months after it's publication and you know and I
know, who keeps newspapers around for very long unless you're one of the squirrels
and this is another nut? If you gather up too many of them you may be…no,
I shouldn't say that!
We had a two-week campaign of spot ads on satellite television, never believed
we could do that, that that could be achieved. In May 1999, something else that
we did not realize could be done, but it was achieved anyway. We began a radio
broadcast which as of today is on Manx radio from the Isle of Man, twice a week
on AM and FM on two short-wave stations, four times a week and on satellite
radio five times a week and also our programs are archived on the web. We now
have office facilities for our general mailing and a major advertising project
in the United Kingdom which we undertook from September to December which brought
us over 1,500 responses which was a major impact upon our mailing list. We started
to count our pennies and opened up the piggy bank to see if we could afford
the postage because there's a whole infrastructure that's needed and support
system that has to be put in place as well. We have just started a second round
of this particular product as of this month and the first responses are just
now coming in. At this time and to our amazement, when we counted up the nations
that we are now mailing literature into, it totals 33 nations of Europe, Scandinavia
and the Middle-East. Again, something which we never, two years ago, believed
could be attained or achieved. We have five churches at this moment, or meetings
-and we have plans for three further locations as we can get to it and God is
certainly making it possible for these locations, for these meetings to be manned
and to be served because it's no good preaching the gospel if we don't make
provision and are aware of those that God may call. We don't know who He'll
call or how many, but He is the one who calls, not us. Our responsibility is
to get out there and preach the gospel.
We realize that we cannot and must
not be parochial in our thinking; we have to raise our eyes to the world outside
the United Kingdom. Accordingly we have just had an advertising product in Sweden
running from the beginning of this year, this brought us over 2,000 responses,
which is an amazing total, maybe now within Sweden it's 2,500. For Scandinavia,
just a few years ago the mailing list for the four nations of Scandinavia was
around 15,000. I would not be at all surprised if God is willing, and we hope
He is, that in two or three years time, we may well exceed that. We do hope
so.
We also this month in the Swedish
Reader's Digest, we were in it last November and plan, as God makes possible
and as we please Him and as He opens those doors, we hope to continue the Reader's
Digest in Sweden twice a year and then come the fall, or autumn, we're going
to do the same thing in Denmark and then proceed next year into Norway. We plan
to continue with the Reader's Digest as I said, in each March an November.
We're also looking for other radio
opportunities. Now God has blessed us wonderfully brethren with our income.
In the first year of our restructuring of 1998 we received somewhere around
50,000 pounds income. That's not a lot I know in Cincinnati terms, but on the
other hand, Cincinnati finds a lot more things to spend it on! On the other
hand, we could too! In the second year we received around 80,000 pounds, which
is remarkable. This present year our treasurer tells me it could well go over
100,000 pounds and this from an attendance of just 120 people - no paid ministry
and just two part-time employees. And you tell me there's no God in heaven whose
interested in what we are doing - whose interested in each one of us? There
is a God, there is our Father who is interested in every single one of us and
concerned for each and everyone of you and for me. There is no way humanly speaking,
any of that could be achieved, it just couldn't, not with the abilities that
all of us have.
With the development of the circulation
of the Good News, we then anticipate public campaigns, maybe toward the end
of next year or the year after, depends on how it goes and how the dialog develops
between us in the office in the United Kingdom and the rest of the European
Union, Middle East and Scandinavia. So we would then anticipate public campaigns,
both in the United Kingdom and in those other areas because we're going to the
English speaking parts of Europe and of course because Scandinavia, I'm sure
you know, does speak English very well indeed. It's quite remarkable really,
I've got a postcard, I wanted to post a card, so I went into the Post Office
in Stockholm and straight up to the desk, I never thought to use the Swedish
language, well I wouldn't, because they don't speak a word of it! I just spoke
to him naturally in English and he was already speaking to one of the staff
in Swedish and the Swedish language to me brethren, when you look at it, makes
no sense or has no relationship to anything that I am familiar with. You look
at two letters put together, now you have to come up with the pronunciation
for that in English, but try it in Swedish and it comes up…?…if you
know the Swedish language, you'd know what I'm talking about. Or else, another
set of letters, it gets…I'm sure it means a lot to them but I'm not surprised
they all speak English, there's no way anyone visiting the country is going
to try to learn Swedish, they'd need a job or something. Anyway he responded
to me immediately in perfect English, which is very reassuring when you come
to any public campaign, see we're not going to bother about the Swedish language,
nor the Norwegian, the Danish or the Finnish. If you ever take the "k"
out of the Finnish language, you have no language left!
So that's what we're planning, God-willing
and we do hope, as I said, that He is and while there is a new dynamic within
the Church in Britain, which there is, there is also an new dynamic in Europe.
From the ashes of the Europe of 1945, brethren, has risen a union of 15 nations
which will shortly be enlarged by 13 more, stretching an unbroken chain from
the north, from the Baltic, right down to the Black Sea and tracing the Eastern
border of the Union and in my view it will perform a function that Poland performed
for Nazi Germany in the Second World War, it provides a buffer, protecting the
Union from the threat, as it is still perceived, of the East.
The BBC recently said in a radio
documentary, in fact the radio documentary was a ½ hour of a series of
four and they said in that particular broadcast, they actually focused upon
the European Union and they focused upon the new Union. They said very definitely
and categorically, that the roots of the new European Union are to be found…where
do you think, any guesses…the roots of the new European Union are to be
found in the old Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne of the 8th-9th
century. That was a categorical statement, not by the United Church of God,
but by the BBC in a radio four documentary, played at prime time, middle of
the evening. Many trips today are made by European statesmen to worship, virtually
worship and take inspiration from the tomb of Charlemagne in the Cathedral in
the Cathedral city of Aachen. The Union brethren, is progressing at a colossal
speed, there is today a first class system of European highways, a first class
system of high speed trains running throughout the Union on dedicated tracks,
trains which customarily and normally travel at approximately 200 miles an hour
and rarely have a crash. There is a new competence and pride pervading the whole
Union.
We have spent quite a bit of time
over the years in France and I know the France of twenty years ago, the France
of twenty years ago brethren has no resemblance to the France of today. Four
or five years ago, my wife and I were driving from the southwest of France back
to one of the channel ports to return to England and we suddenly realized, There's
something wrong here, something strange, what is it? We sort of scratched our
heads, metaphorically speaking and then said, You know, there's no litter, no
bits of paper tossed around, plastic bottles, empty beer cans - nothing. So
we said, Let's see if we can see some litter, it was about 45 minutes later
and two or three towns further up the road and we said, Aha, there it is, look,
these people, what do they mean, throwing all this litter around? One small
piece! And so it progressed and this last year, last summer when we were in
France down near Toulouse and then we drove in and around the general area of
France and I had the opportunity to meet with the Church in Bordeaux on a couple
of occasions, they did translate the sermon, thankfully. My French is not for
sermons. But there, through that whole area, town after town, beautifully kept,
beautifully maintained, the trick of the flying proudly from the town hall of
each town, of each village, every village with it's civic hall, the hall where
the senior citizen, the mayor has his offices and represents the community.
There is a pride in community, there is a pride in the nation and there is a
tremendous confidence brethren which I find is rising throughout the entire
European Union today. A confidence that we're going to have to reckon with in
the not very distant future, there is a pride that is there.
In the United States there is a
worry about the economy, in the United Kingdom, as you know from watching CNN
maybe or Fox News, we do have many and other worries and we really do have some
problems. At the same time, the European Union drives on to the inevitable federal
super state - 440 million people. Already and for some time now, there is and
has been a European flag, an anthem, a passport, shortly there will be a common
drivers license. Some people like to say, Oh there isn't going to be any super
state - no federal system. But as William Hague, the leader of the Conservative
Party in Parliament said recently, he said, "If it looks like an elephant
and it behaves like an elephant, there's every chance it is an elephant."
Now what do you say about a nation
or group of nations that has a common flag, a common passport, going to have
a common driving license and has an anthem, what else can you say? It does look
like an elephant. A grouping of nations within the whole, we'll see the coins
and bank notes on a European currency come into general use and general circulation
on the first of January of this coming year. Come June, all the national currencies
will be withdrawn. Everybody said, Look, the euro is collapsing, it is low,
it isn't a success. They forgot the nations that are behind the euro, there
is no way it was going to collapse. It was expected, nobody in Europe got uptight,
got excited about the fact that the euro had dropped against the dollar and
had faltered against the pound. It suited the Union extremely well, as a result
a lot of the unemployment that was there in the Union has been soaked up, the
exports have risen, the economies of the entire Union have ened because
of the low euro, meaning that imports from the United States have gone down,
imports from the United Kingdom have gone down because they're all that much
more expensive and the exports from the Union have risen, thus ening
the economy of the entire. Come next year brethren, I would suggest that you
should keep a very close eye on what happens once the bank notes and the coins
hit the streets.
Let me just read for you some quotes
from an article in The Economist from February 3, just over a month ago.
This was an article, this was in The Economist, all about the European
Union, just some quotations from it, just taken randomly, you'd need to read
the whole article to get them all in context. It begins, "The European
Union is still bent on ambitious changes that would alter it's very nature.
Can they be achieved all at once? Not quite, but quite rapidly." The
first paragraph says, "In the course of this year the European Union
will try to tackle three vast and radical tasks all at once. First on January
1, 2002, Europe's single currency will at last start circulating as notes and
coins among some 302 million people, (And what's the population of the United
States? About 280 million.) in twelve of Europe's fifteen countries. Secondly,
the European Union will make a big push and to strive to nearly double it's
membership within five years, moving it up to around 440 and more million. Thirdly,
there's debate about writing a constitution. (It's federal systems that
have constitutions; it's nations that have constitutions. What are we doing
writing a constitution for the Union?) They hope it will get going in earnest
and the hope of finally settling the division of power between the European
Union, it's nation states and Europe's regions." They're sorting out
who does what, who drives the whole. It continues, the head of the European
Commission says, this is another quote "These days the Commission feels
more and more like a government." You bet it is, that's what's intended!
"They unveiled their work program for the year, much of it is the sort
of legislative…listen to this…much of the work for this coming
year is the sort of legislative and administrative business that would be familiar
to national governments, to do with food safety, telecommunications, liberalization,
foreign aid, immigration and so on. But also on the agenda those three matters
that touch on the European Union's very nature, launching the Union, the euro,
enlarging the club, writing a constitution."
Further down in the article - "The
disappearance of historical currencies, such as the German mark and the French
franc may be the single most tangible act of European integration since the
second World War." If it all goes well, which it is and will…it
may be the single most tangible act of European integration since the second
World War. The euro will do a lot to promote the creation of a genuine pan-European
consciousness among those in the Euro Zone. We are all Europeans now."
Continuing further down in the article - "We can expect a renewed tussle
over the placing of power in two particular areas…" and I've been
focusing upon this particular point for a long time now because these have to
come into being if there is to be a federal state…taxation, common taxation
and defense. We already have a Colonel of a European army and the rapid reaction
force. People say to me sometimes, That's not an army. Oh, isn't it? Oh no,
and Mr. Blair, our Prime Minister said, It's not an army, it's not a European
army, they have no European cap badges…but you know, while he said that,
you know what they did have? European shoulder flashes, no cap badges, they
didn't talk about the shoulder flashes. We are looking at the beginnings of
a European army, whether we think it is or not, it is happening.
A couple more quotations from the
article: "Germany has rarely if ever been seen…and you'd sympathize
with this, I know…as the natural guardian of the smaller of Europe's
countries. But as other European Union countries monitor the wobbling Franco-German
relationship…which is losing a bit of it's wobble now, but this was
written weeks ago…some of the small little countries are now looking
to Germany to safeguard their interests." It's like asking the fox
to take care of the chicken house. Down toward the end of the article: "Britain
as ever is uneasy." We have been uneasy about the rise of power in
Europe for five hundred years and for five hundred years we have prevented this
power or that one dominating the whole. Unfortunately we can do that no longer
and we will do it no longer. Our teeth have been drawn, we no longer have the
. Grey hairs are upon Ephraim. Sweden and Denmark are cautious as well
and it continues, "So Germany is at the Union's pivot." It
is driving the whole.
Now as we have looked at that, we
should now look at the third part because everything leads to this third part.
Jesus Christ's return. When He first came, the disciples said to Him, they asked
Him, "Will you now at this time re-establish Israel?" They didn't
understand. But in Matthew 24 they asked a question of Him and you know
the question as well as I do, you're probably ahead of me, aren't you, you're
already saying what the question was they had for Him.
Matt. 24:3 - Now as He
sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying, "Tell
us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming and
of the end of the age?"
That was their question. He then
spelled out the conditions, spelled it out for us and then in verse 32 He said
something else, which is very critical, He gave us a parable because people
liked to say, We don't know when the return of Christ will be…and by the
day and the hour we don't because the bible tells us we won't know the day or
the hour, but we will know the general time frame, we will know. How can I say
that? Well because of the parable - it's right here:
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Verse 32 - "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branches
already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that…winter is
near…it doesn't say that does it? It says that…summer is near."
I mean what else do you do? I don't
know if your gardens are like mine, but we've got crocus in the garden and daffodils
and it all at the end of year, disappears and you don't see them anymore and
the leaves are all dead. You don't then look at the dead leaves, Here you go,
spring's close. No, you don't do you? You know winter is around. But then come
March, in our neck of the woods, we begin to see the crocus appearing, the daffodils
and we say, Hey, spring is close and summer won't be far behind. Just as an
aside, you know the difference between summer and winter in Britain by the fact
that in winter, the rain is cold and in the summer it's warm! But He went on
with the example in the parable of the fig tree:
V. 32 - "…you
know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that
it is near, at the very door."
That's what He says, when you see
these things happen, that He spelled out in Matthew 24, at an
intense we've never known before and do we have that or do we not? Water is
dissipating and being lost from the planet at an incredible rate, we will be
seeing water wars in the not too distant future. I mean I read what is happening
in California, they're extremely worried about what is going to happen in California
in the summer when all the air-conditioning gets switched on. What is going
to happen? More brown-outs and black-outs, it's a serious situation. But He
said this is at the very door.
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V. 34 - "Assuredly I say to you, this generation will by no means
pass away until all these things are fulfilled. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will by no means pass away." And they won't.
He said something to the disciples,
or they experienced something, He didn't say it, but an angel did. In Acts 1
when He left the surface of this planet and ascended to heaven as it says, as
the section heading says.
Acts 1:9 - When He had
spoken these, while they watched, He was taken up and the clouds received Him
out of their sight.
V. 10 - And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, t tood by them
in white apparel who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you also stand
gazing up to heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will
so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." He is to return
to this planet, to this earth.
I must just turn briefly to Daniel
2 and again, you know the passage. Here is the dream that Nebuchadnezzar
had. All the way through it's explained that the king talks to nd says
he's had this dream and he wants to know what it is. Daniel explains the dream
and then interprets it and indicates for Nebuchadnezzar and for all of us that
it concerned four world-dominating empires. Then he said:
Daniel 2:40 - "And
the fourth kingdom…in succession…shall be as strong as iron,
inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters all things and like iron that
crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others."
V. 42 - Then he goes on and
talks about the toes…partly of iron and partly of clay…so the
kingdom shall be partly strong, partly fragile.
V. 44 - In context he says
this: "In the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people."
Has that happened? You know it hasn't
happened. This then is yet future, it is yet up ahead and has to be seen in
context with the other scriptures and with the events we see taking place around
us in front of our very eyes. At this point we have to look at all of these
things in context. Maybe we can't look at any one particular item and say, "Ah,
that's that, that fits that verse." We get a little bit unwise when we
do things like that, but we need to be able to see the whole context, to put
the thing into perspective.
"In the days of these kings…"
In Revelation 17 there is a parallel to the ten kings, they give their
and power to the whole. Is that what I'm looking at when I look across the Channel
from where we are in the United Kingdom? It could well be. I'm going to place
no bets. In Matthew 24 He said this:
Matt. 24:36 - "Of
that day and hour…He indicated we would know the general time frame,
but He said, "Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels
of heaven, but My Father only. But…I love buts, I can think of one
individual some years ago who didn't like buts, but I like buts…But
as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man be."
What was it like in the days of Noah? Well He says this:
V. 38 - "For as in
the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until
the flood came, took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of man
be."
Now what were the days of Noah like?
Let's just quickly turn to Genesis 6:5. It spells it out for us a little
bit, well we already had it spelled out somewhat, right there in Matthew 24.
But here in Gen. 6:5:
Gen. 6:5 - Then the Lord
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Pray tell me if this is not true
of this time? You know it is, it is very true of this time as we look around
this earth today, we would really identify it as being as the days of Noah.
How much worse is it to get? Probably can get a little worse and it won't be
long before it does. The same time, life will be going on, eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, nothing changes, but there's this rapid degeneration
downwards, but life is still going on, trade is still going on, commerce, we
know that from these verse in Revelation. Let's turn to Revelation 6:12.
Well, I won't take the time, I'll start in Verse 15:
Rev. 6:15 - The kings
of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men…rich
men? Yes, these are the days of Noah, commerce, people are rich, wealthy, they're
there. The mighty men? They're there too…slaves, every free man hid
themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains
and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the
throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come,
and who is able to stand?"
Tremendous wealth is typi f
that time. It is also typi f this age. There's a lot of fat upon some nations
and very little, if any, upon a huge number of others.
Revelation 19:7
Rev. 19:7 - "Let
us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come
and His wife…or His bride…has made herself ready."
Then He continues:
V. 9 - " 'Blessed
are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' And he said to
me, 'These are the true sayings of God.'" Then from v. 11-15 we read
of Christ's return:
V. 11 - Then I saw heaven
open and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. The returning Jesus
Christ. In Revelation 18:9, and this is a tremendous passage:
Rev.18:9-10 - "And the
kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously...as of the
days of Noah…with her will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke
of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas,
alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment
has come.'"
V. 11-13 - "And the
merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her for no one buys their merchandise
anymore…it's all come to a grinding halt…merchandise of gold
and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet,
every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object
of most precious wood, bronze, iron and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant
oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep,
horse, chariots…chariots? BMW's? Porche? Mercedes? Germany today has
three major mass producing car companies. In Britain we have none, France has
two…bodies and souls of men.
V. 14-15 - "And the
fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you and all the things which are
rich and splendid have gone from you and you shall find them no more at all.
The merchants of these things have become rich by her, will stand at a distance
for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing." It has come to an end.
Revelation 18:17 - why described as Babylon?
V. 17 - "For in one
hour such great riches came to nothing."
Why Babylon? When we would look at what the original Babylon was like, it was
powerful, wealthy and this is the same sort of system, it has a certain nature.
The system we're looking at which will be extant, in existence at the return
of Christ on which we've just been reading, it isn't the original, but it is
described as Babylon, the city standing for the whole. It's a bit like government
statements - in the United States you may read or hear on radio and watch on
TV and hear the sentence, "Washington said today…" Oh did they?
All how many millions of them? "London said…" all 8.5 million,
all at once? They didn't did they? Of course they didn't, the part stood for
the whole and we're seeing much the same thing again. It has the nature of the
original Babylon - powerful, wealthy, dominating and world dominating and with
a nature which is aggressive, this is what we are looking at across the Channel
from the United Kingdom at this point. It is interesting to read in Revelation
17:12, this is a terrific passage, I alluded to it earlier, mentioned it.
Rev. 17:12-14 - "The
ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but
they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. They are of one
mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make
war with the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them for He is Lord of lords and
King of kings and those who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful."
V. 15 - "And he said
to me, 'The waters which you saw, where the prostitutes sits, are peoples, multitudes,
nations and tongues."
What today do we see in the Union? What is the Union comprised of? What is the
European Union? It is a collection of peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues!
That is what the Union comprises today. It is not like the United States where
English is officially the first official language, probably will become the
second official language before long, but that's your problem! But he said,
multitudes, nations and tongues! Languages. So how today would you describe
the Union?
Brethren, Jesus Christ is going
to return, we can and will know when the time of the end is upon us, remember
the fig tree. In Luke 21 He says something else to us and we overlook
these verses, brethren, at our peril. See what He says to us.
Luke 21:33 - "Heaven
and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away but take heed
to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness
and cares of this life…"
Is there anybody here who has no
cares, no worries, just go through life without a care in the world, your credit
card bills all up to date, utility bills all paid, a high income flowing into
your bank account and you sort of exist in a sort of little bubble of zero inflation.
Is that life for all of us? No, we do have the cares and the worries and the
concerns, we all do. We all worry about our children, doesn't matter how old
they get, we still worry about them and then children worry about their parents,
parents worry about others in the family. Within the Church we have a concern
for one another, we're worried about the Church and we're worried about this
and worry about that. We could worry about so many things we end up by missing
the eminent return of Jesus Christ! And we mustn't do that, we must be very
well aware of what is happening in the world around us. In v. 35 it says:
V. 35 - "For it will
come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth."
As a snare. Now if a rabbit knew
where the snare was and what it was, it would go around it, wouldn't it? But
it missed it, went straight through it and - hung. That's a snare. Is that to
happen to us as individuals? Are we to be caught by the snare? We shouldn't,
we don't have to, He spelled it out for us, it is there. He went on:
V. 36 - "Watch therefore,
and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that
will come to pass and to stand before the Son of man."
We should be expecting it. Why?
Because we're looking at the fig tree. I won't turn there, but in Matthew 25
He has the parable of the Ten Virgins and don't forget, they all slept, it's
just that half of them woke up in time and had the holy spirit very much within
them, the others didn't.
Brethren, Jesus Christ is returning to this planet to establish the Kingdom
of God. We have the opportunity to be part of that, to be part of reconciling
not only the people but the very planet to God. Throughout the millennium, we
read about it, we hear about it, we have the sermons given to us at the Feast
of Tabernacles, about the reconciliation. We focus upon the Day of Atonement
- reconciliation to God, reconciliation not only of people, but of the whole
entire environment - the planet. This planet is sick, it is dying, it is to
be restored to health and we are to have a part in doing that. Wouldn't that
be just wonderful? And to be there as a spirit being, knowing that finally,
at last we can do something about those things that we agonize over in this
age, in this life.
Now the same time, to know the love
of God that pervades everywhere, that surrounds us, encourages us, comforts
us, warms us. A love that surpasses…as it says…all understanding,
and to have that as a concept in this life ought to lift us and help us to keep
moving onwards and to stay at one with each other, always avoiding the trap
that we read of, and I won't turn there, but in Romans 16 where he says, Mark
those who cause divisions among you. Don't be part of that, let's stay together.
Our duty -Matthew 24:14.
Matt. 24:14 - "This
gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world…He
doesn't say here, in the entirety of California, He doesn't say this gospel
will only be preached in Scotland - there aren't many people up there and the
sheep that are there are getting less and less so it wouldn't be effective…in
all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come."
Did the preaching of the gospel end with the death of Mr. Armstrong? No, it
did not. It is the duty of all of us to part of that preaching.
V. 45 - "Who then
is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household,
to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when
he comes, will find so doing."
The gospel has to be preached. If
there was not a person called by the Eternal, we have still got to preach that
gospel. So often people attempt to measure the effectiveness saying, Oh we're
not doing anything, it's not a success, nobody is coming into the Church. God
will call - and I feel sure and actually certain that He will call people
into the Church. I'm not so sure we'll see people coming into the Church in
the tens of thousands. I think the Church will be added to. Our duty is to preach
the gospel. You know something? I don't know if you've thought about it, but
when Christ returns, do you know there won't be anymore United Church of God?
Funny that isn't it? You know you think United Church is going to go on and
on…no it's not. When it comes to an end, at the return of Christ and so
does every other group and Church, there will be one body of Christ. One family,
hopefully all of us. No reason why not, we all can be part of that. But He says,
you've got to keep going, keep doing that work until I return and that is our
duty. If we never had another social, never had another youth camp, we have
got to continue to preach that gospel, that message of hope, that message of
warning to this world and then to pastor and nurture and welcome in to the family,
those whom God will call.
How often, somebody new, whom God
has called, comes to attend a church service for the very first time and what
happens? Nobody knows quite how to handle it, so everybody goes and talks to
everybody else and the person who is there for the first time wonders, What
did I do? I couldn't have said anything, nobody has talked to me. We should
welcome them in, they are being drawn by the Eternal God Himself has called
them - He selected them, He's chosen them, they've responded, they're now part
of the family. Hopefully we will do that. Let's turn very briefly now to II
Timothy, and I've got one scripture after that, Mr. Smith will be happy,
I'm watching the time very carefully. You put a big clock there at the back
didn't you, I can see that!
II Tim. 4:2 - Preach the
word! Be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and teaching for the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine…has that come or not? You know it has come…but
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap
up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth
and be turned aside to fables. Things which are not true.
I mean how can anybody be in the
Church of God and then leave it and then go and keep Christmas? When every children's
book I've ever read…well, not every book, that's a bit of an overstatement,
but I mean I have read children's books about the holy days, the religious days
and under Christmas in the Ladybird book for children, in that book which only
cost me about fifty cents, that book when through the Christmas customs and
showed how pagan they all were and where they generated from. How can anybody,
having been called by the Eternal in God's Church, have His spirit, leave and
then keep Christmas? This is what it says.
V. 4 - They will turn
their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. And it happens!
Don't let it happen to you. He goes on and he's talking to you, each one of
you and me, because I'm down there too. He says:
V. 5 - You be watchful
in all things, endure afflictions…these things do happen, we don't
live a charmed life, things will happen that we don't like, we do run into difficulties,
problems, difficult human relationships.
When we got back from Sweden, I
won't go through the whole catalog, but it's unbelievable what happened, I mean
it's just one thing after another, in about a 24 hour period. It all sort of
ended a few days ago. I was talking to my wife and she said, "Guess what?"
I said, "What?" Then she told me what…the washing machine is
terminal! And if there ever was a disaster for people in the Western world,
it's for either the dishwasher or the washing machine to go terminal. This I
can do without. But if that was our only problem, wouldn't that be wonderful?
But it isn't, is it? He said:
V. 5 - You be watchful
in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry.
Brethren, we are all part of this message, we are all part of preaching the
gospel, not everybody can preach sermons, not everybody can conduct public campaigns,
public meetings, but we're all part of it. The body cannot function without
everybody fulfilling the function, the responsibility that God has called them
to. I mean just write letters to people to encourage, all kinds of things we
can do if we just give ourselves to the Creator, to our Heavenly Father and
say, Father, please use me in whatever way You feel and wish. And mean it. There
is a lady in Pasedena, she developed a whole ministry of writing to people,
all over…Mrs. Mauck, that's who it was…she developed a whole ministry
of writing to people all over the people and it was wonderful, such encouraging
letters. Can you tell me she wasn't doing the work? She was doing the work,
that was part of it.
Let's just turn finally to Romans
10, I see I have one minute before it's gone overtime and you're going to
sing the final song in overtime!
Rom. 10:13-14 - For "whoever
calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." How then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? Well you can't, can you? And how
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? If you've never heard
of Christ, how can you believe in Him, because you haven't heard of Him. How
shall they hear without a preacher? Now there's a point?
V. 15 - And how shall
they preach unless they are sent?
Can't, if nobody is sent to preach, nobody will preach and if nobody preaches,
nobody will be called. When you project that a little bit, it brings an interesting
concept, at least to my mind, maybe not to yours, but it does to me. That is,
we could be very responsible for people either being in the first resurrection
or not. If we do not preach the message, do the work, God has chosen a method
of calling people. Now I know and fully understand that He may call people specifically,
He's done that, but this is the generality. He calls as a result of the preaching.
The preaching is because somebody has been sent, that may be through mailed
Good News magazines, booklets, it could be a public meeting, who knows? Whatever
way we find to do the work, but without that preaching, somebody may not be
called at this time and may then come up in the second resurrection that could
have been in the first - could have been, but we didn't do the work, and so
they weren't called. It's just a thought. Conversely, there are people who will
be in the first resurrection because we did do the work. So it's very
important, the concept of doing the work and preaching the gospel.
Brethren, Jesus Christ is returning to this earth. We need to prepare for the vocation that we have, the calling that we have and sometimes it may feel a little selfish. It's not, is it? We should want for ourselves and for everybody else, what God wants for us. Who are we to deny His will, it's His will that we should all be there, as His children, born into His family and then to take part in whatever He has in mind for us, up beyond. It's a wonderful concept, it's a wonderful future brethren. Let's be sure that when Christ returns to this earth, we're all ready and there and we all go out to meet Him and return to this earth with Him to then take part with Him in the restoration of this planet and in the reconciliation of it and of everybody and of all of mankind and then we can all go into a wonderful wonderful future that we can only just glimpse - but it's there. Let's be part of it.