PROPHECY UPDATE 7/15/2022

 

Seven Mysteries of God - By Bill Pierce - https://www.raptureready.com/2022/07/14/seven-mysteries-of-god-by-bill-pierce/   Text: “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1Corinthians 4:1).   Revealed after Christ’s first coming — The word mystery is found twenty-two times, and mysteries is found five times in the Holy Bible. Neither word is found in the Old Testament. Even though “known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18), the mysteries of God were concealed until Jesus Christ, “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:7) was sent from heaven.   According to Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, a “steward” is ‘a minister of Christ, whose duty is to dispense the provisions of the gospel, to preach its doctrines and administer its ordinances.’ A “mystery” is ‘In religion, any thing in the character or attributes of God, or in the economy of divine providence, which is not revealed to man…That which is beyond human comprehension until explained. In this sense, mystery often conveys the idea of something awfully sublime or important; something that excites wonder.’   Revealed by the word of God alone — The “mysteries of God” are beyond human knowledge until explained by God in his word. Neither God’s prophets, who lived before the first coming of Jesus Christ, nor his angels know these mysteries (1Peter 1:10-12). And even after a mystery of God is revealed to men through his word, no man is capable of understanding how God accomplishes his “mighty works” (Luke 10:13) and “mighty deeds” (2Corinthians 12:12). Although Bible believers receive the word of God as absolute truth (1Thessalonians 2:13), we cannot explain how God does his work. Unbelieving ‘Bible scholars’ attempt to explain the mysteries of God by using nature and their “science falsely so called” (1Timothy 6:20).   Understanding that God made the heavens “and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6; Hebrews 11:3; 2Peter 3:5-7), that “…with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:26-27), and “…with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37), it is absurd and irrational for any man to attempt to explain how God accomplished the mysteries! We would do well to agree with David, who declared: “LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me” (Psalm 131:1). God will show his faithful children all they need to know to love, serve, and please him (Revelation 4:11), for “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14).   THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS   1Timothy 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”   To ‘manifest’ means ‘To reveal; to make to appear; to show plainly; to make public; to disclose to the eye or to the understanding.’ (Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary).   Testimony of the prophets — Isaiah wrote: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), which means, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23), whose name shall be called “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7). The Lord Jesus said to Philip, “…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:9). Micah declared that his “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). The Son of God himself is “the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth…” (Isaiah 40:28).   Testimony of the apostles— After “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1Peter 1:3), the disciples gave clear and plain testimonies of the truth that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. John said that “the Word was God” (John 1:1), and that “the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14; 1John 5:20; John 20:28; Luke 24:36-48). The apostle Paul declared that God’s dear Son is the creator and sustainer of all things (Colossians 1:12-17; Genesis 1:1).   Testimony of God the Father — “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom” (Hebrews 1:8).   Testimony of men—The word of God warns: “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God… For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (1John 4:3; 2John 1:7). Jesus Christ plainly told the unbelieving Jews, “…if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). All unbelievers, Jews and Gentiles alike, will suffer eternally with all Christ rejecters in the “lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8)!   THE MYSTERY OF THE INDWELLING CHRIST   Colossians 1:25-27 “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”   The witness of the Spirit — The mystery of the indwelling of Christ is made “manifest to his saints,” but not to unbelievers (1John 3:1-2). Born-again believers know that they are saved, because God has put the Holy Ghost, “the Spirit of Christ,” in them: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1John 4:13). “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). As long as the unbelieving seek truth outside of the word of God, “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness…” (Psalm 82:5; 1John 1:6; John 8:12). For “…the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Corinthians 2:14).   Understanding—The Lord foretold of the gift of the Holy Ghost which would be given after his resurrection (John 7:37-39; 14:15-17). It is by the Spirit that believers understand the word of God (John 16:13; 1Corinthians 2:12-13).   Self-examination—A man receives the Spirit of Christ when he receives Jesus Christ by faith as his personal Saviour: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1John 4:13). According to the word of God, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1John 5:12), and if a man does not have “the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9)! In light of the seriousness of this truth, the apostle Paul commanded the church of God which is at Corinth: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2Corinthians 13:5).   THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST AND THE CHURCH   Ephesians 5:30 “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”   The operation of God — A sinner is saved according to God’s mercy (Titus 3:5) when he is “born again” (John 3:3-8; 1Peter 1:23) and washed from his sins in the blood of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:5). At this same time, God performs a mysterious operation. By the living word of God, which is “sharper than any twoedged sword,” he divides asunder the “soul and spirit” from “the joints and marrow [the physical body]” (Hebrews 4:12). God circumcises the believer “with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11).   The allegory of the woman — This operation makes it possible for the “new creature” (2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15) to be joined unto Christ and be “one spirit” (1Corinthians 6:17) with him. His soul is likened to a woman who—after the death of her former husband, has been made free to lawfully marry another (Romans 7:1-3). The believer’s “old man” has been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), and he has “put on the new man” (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10) who has been “espoused…to one husband” that he may be presented “…as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2Corinthians 11:2). Paul uses the woman as an allegory of the believer: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God…” (Romans 7:4-6).   We know “that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6). Therefore, we are commanded: “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;” (Ephesians 4:22) and, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9). The Son made us “free indeed” (John 8:36) and “partakers of Christ” (Hebrews 3:14) when he baptized us “with the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 3:11-12) into “one body” (1Corinthians 12:13), the “one body in Christ” (Romans 12:4-5)—his “body, the church” (Colossians 1:18).   Powerless religion — There are literally billions of souls in this world today who are ‘religious.’ To state the truth briefly and plainly, anyone who trusts and attempts to be saved by religious works—such as infant baptism, church membership, confirmation by men, or any other so-called religious work, will utterly and completely fail! “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse…” (Galatians 3:10). But thank God, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:11-14).   Power of God through faith — No religion, including “pure religion” (James 1:27), has the power to save and keep any man’s soul! The word of God clearly declares: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9); “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).   They do not receive “the Spirit by the works of the law [but] by the hearing of faith” (Galatians 3:2; Romans 10:17). Paul told the believers at Thessalonica, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Thessalonians 2:13-14; Ephesians 1:13-14).   THE MYSTERY OF ISRAEL’S BLINDNESS   Romans 11:25 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”   Israel rejected their Messiah — The Lord Jesus Christ “came unto his own [Israel], and his own received him not” (John 1:11). As a nation, Israel said, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). They demanded of Pilate, “Crucify him, crucify him” (John 19:6)! When Pilate declared Jesus Christ to be innocent, the Jews said, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:24-25). Because of their rejection of Jesus Christ, their Messiah, God has placed a terrible curse upon the nation of Israel. He has blinded them in part to “the light of the glorious gospel of Christ” (2Corinthians 4:4), “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).   Even though the majority of Jewish people have rejected Jesus Christ, God has not cast away his people: “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant [of Israel] according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (Romans 11:5-6). Grace is ‘Appropriately, the free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from him…The application of Christ’s righteousness to the sinner [through faith (2Timothy 3:15; Romans 9:30)]‘ (Noah Webster, 1828).   Israel will be restored — After Barnabas and Paul declared “what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them” (Acts 15:12), “James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things” (Acts 15:13-17).   Witness of the prophets — According to the prophets, the Lord “…shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people [and]…shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:11-12). “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 14:1). “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 32:37-38; Zephaniah 3:14-15).   Witness of the apostles — In perfect concordance with the prophets, the New Testament declares that after “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in…” (Romans 11:25): “…all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.   “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever Amen” (Romans 11:25-36).   God’s merciful salvation plan — Jews and Gentiles are both saved by grace through faith! When the apostles and elders were gathered together in Jerusalem to consider the teaching of some of the believing Pharisees that it was necessary to require the believing Gentiles to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses, Peter rose up and rehearsed how that God had saved and had given the Holy Ghost to the Gentiles when they heard and believed the gospel. Furthermore, Peter said that God “put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:7-11).   MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT   Revelation 17:5 “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Babylon has many harlot daughters—When people worship anything that is not God, or give their hearts to idols, or institutional systems, doctrines, rites, so-called churches, or administrations as substitutes for what is set forth in scripture, such is called whoredom, adultery, and fornication (Jeremiah 3:6-9; Ezekiel 16:32; Hosea 1-2; Revelation 2:22).   “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,” as it exists today, is a religious system which includes all churches that preach “another gospel” and “another Jesus” with “another spirit” (2Corinthians 11:4, 13-15). Satan’s church is a MOTHER OF HARLOTS. The MOTHER and her HARLOT offspring are all Satan’s ministers, preaching lies and making millions of deceived followers two-fold more the children of hell than themselves (Matthew 23:15)! Some of the Lord’s people have also been deceived by her lies. The Lord commands them: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4), because the Lord will destroy such churches in the tribulation period (Revelation 17:16-17).   The devil, “the god of this world,” “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), has “blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2Corinthians 4:3-4). His deceiving religions are by far Satan’s most powerful tool for deceiving and blinding people to the truth of the word of God!   The sure antidote against deception — The only source of absolute truth in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) is the Holy Bible. “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalms 12:6-7). God has magnified his word even above all his name (Psalms 138:2). “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).   “…many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:66-68). There is no place to go in this world but to the word of God—the Holy Bible, if you want to know the truth and you want to receive eternal life from God (Romans 6:23).   Fools put their trust in men — The apostle Paul prophesied about these last days: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2Timothy 3:13). Only a fool trusts his eternal soul to another man: “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD” (Jeremiah 17:5). Many religious people have never opened the Holy Bible to read it for themselves! They have put all their trust in the words of deceived religious men! Because of their ignorance of the scriptures, they are headed down a false religious path to destruction: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).   Even the man “that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered” (Proverbs 28:26). But on the other hand: “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is” (Jeremiah 17:7). Paul was an apostle “by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope” (1Timothy 1:1), “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6:19).   Eternal judgment for Christ rejecters — If you reject the Lord Jesus Christ and his words, he will judge you by his word and reject you in the last day (John 12:48). He will say to you: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).   You will then be cast into the Lord’s eternal garbage dump, where you “shall dwell with the devouring fire…with everlasting burnings” (Isaiah 33:14); where the smoke of your torment will ascend up for ever and ever, and you will have no rest day nor night (Revelation 14:11). You will be “in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). You will be in “the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 1:13) with “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars” (Revelation 21:8), where there shall be wailing and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42; Luke 13:28)!   God offers the gift of eternal life — “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Eternal life is not available to anyone except those who receive and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13). The exclusive way to the true God is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Our “spiritual Rock” is Christ (1Corinthians 10:4): “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4). But the “rock” of all the world’s religions “is not as our Rock” (Deuteronomy 32:31)!   If you want to escape the damnation of hell, then you must be “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1Peter 1:23-25).   Every saved child of God trusted the Lord Jesus Christ after he first “heard the word of truth, the gospel” (Ephesians 1:13; Colossians 1:5). The Lord Jesus prayed “for them also which shall believe” (John 17:20) on him through the words of the apostles found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. John wrote his gospel account, “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). Praise God, that’s me! How about you?   The gospel — The “glorious gospel of Christ” (2Corinthians 4:4) is “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1Corinthians 15:3-4)! And in his incorruptible word, our gracious and merciful God promises: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9)!   THE MYSTERY OF THE CATCHING AWAY   1Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”   Sleep — Many times in the scriptures, sleep refers to the death of the physical body. At this present time, the spirits and souls of all believers whose bodies are asleep are absent from their bodies and are present with the Lord (2Corinthians 5:8).   When the Lord returns for the church, “them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first [God will give the “dead in Christ” a glorious “body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body” (1Corinthians 15:38; Philippians 3:21)]: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1Thessalonians 4:13-18).   We who have been saved by the mercy and grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9) are “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). He is coming “as a thief in the night” (1Thessalonians 5:2; 2Peter 3:10). He could come at this very hour (1Thessalonians 4:16-18). We are waiting for nothing to happen first! Are you ready for the coming of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:43-44)?   THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY   2Thessalonians 2:7 “For the MYSTERY of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let [prevent; withhold], until he be taken out of the way.”   Best news—It is a mystery why everyone in the world doesn’t believe the gospel of God’s grace when they first hear it. The Bible tells us that the spirit of “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), the spirit of the devil, works in all of “the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1-3) to blind them to the truth: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2Corinthians 4:3-4).   Great deception — After the church is caught up, the ultimate fulfillment of the mystery of iniquity will appear in the person of “the son of perdition” (2Thessalonians 2:3). “The mystery of godliness” is that “God was manifest in the flesh” (1Timothy 3:16). “The mystery of iniquity” (2Thessalonians 2:7) is Satan manifest in the flesh! He is called “antichrist” (1John 2:18), “that man of sin…the son of perdition” (2Thessalonians 2:3), and “that Wicked” (2Thessalonians 2:8).   After the church is taken out of the world by the Lord Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 4:16-18; 1Corinthians 15:51-53), the world will be deceived by this man who will flatter them and deceive them by “peace” (Daniel 8:25; 1Thessalonians 5:1-3). After three and a half years, he will sit in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, “shewing himself that he is God” (2Thessalonians 2:4)! “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him” (Revelation 13:8)! These unbelievers will actually worship “that man of sin…the son of perdition” (2Thessalonians 2:3)!   As God blinded Israel “in part” because of unbelief, so during this present time, God promises to blind and damn every one who rejects his only begotten Son Jesus Christ after the Spirit of God calls him by the gospel. Speaking of the events which take place just after the Lord comes and catches his church away (1Thessalonians 4:16-18; 1Corinthians 15:51-53), the apostle Paul warned that God will send a strong delusion to those men whom he had previously called by the gospel (2Thessalonians 2:13-14), but who “received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved…That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2Thessalonians 2:8-12)!   If you do not believe “the mystery of godliness,” that “God was manifest in the flesh” (1Timothy 3:16), then you have been blinded by “the mystery of iniquity.” You are still in darkness. May today be “the day of salvation” (2Corinthians 6:2) for you.   “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).   Share this:

Mideast Review: A Diplomatic Slap In The Face – Amir Tsarfati - https://harbingersdaily.com/mideast-review-w-amir-tsarfati-a-diplomatic-slap-in-the-face/   In a Tuesday UAV strike, the US assassinated the leader of ISIS in Syria, while severely wounding another senior ISIS official who eventually succumbed to his wounds yesterday. The two were traveling outside Jindayris in northwest Syria at the time. Maher al-Agal was responsible for many attacks within the country, and was developing ISIS outside of Syria and Iraq. “The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out global attacks,” said CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino.   US President Joe Biden landed in Israel Wednesday, perfectly coinciding with my departure to South Africa. Must be divine timing. He is arriving with a record low approval rating of 33% and a 40-year high inflation rate of 9.1%. Yet, with that record and the knowledge that nearly two-thirds of those in his own party don’t want him to run again in 2024, he is apparently planning to tell Israel how we can make everything happy with the Palestinians. While here, he will visit a site on the Mount of Olives without an official Israeli host – a slap in the face to our government. Then he is expected to encourage a two-state solution, while reaffirming his intention to open a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem.   From Israel, the US president will travel to Saudi Arabia. While there, he will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a man he once said must be held accountable for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That get-together could be awkward. I do not expect that Biden will receive the same kind of celebratory reception when he arrives as that enjoyed by the previous holder of the Oval Office.   Russia continues to strangle Ukraine. Moscow has taken over 22% of the agricultural land and has burned wheat fields in other parts. The 20% of Ukraine that Putin already controls contributes approximately half of the nation’s GDP. If they take the districts of Mykolaiv and Odessa, Ukraine will be left with only 25% of their GDP and no seaports for trade.   Moscow’s relationship with other Central European nations continues to deteriorate. On Monday, the Russian #KILLNET hacking network launched a cyberattack on the Polish Tax Authority causing all sorts of havoc. Tensions with Lithuania were continuing to grow as the Baltic country expanded its restrictions on goods that they would allow to pass through to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. However, just yesterday, the EU caved to Moscow’s pressure and said that it was okay for Russian goods to travel through Lithuania by rail to Kaliningrad. The Vilnius government, which had only been following the EU’s sanctions, breathed a sigh of relief and said that it would not ignore “the positions and assessments” of the other nations.   The coalition of Ezekiel continues to be formed before our eyes. Next Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Tehran, where he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. One of the primary purposes for the trilateral summit is the boosting of economic cooperation with Iran. As I talked about last week, the ties between these countries continues to grow. Just on Monday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that Iran was preparing to provide several hundred military drones to Russia for use against Ukraine. Over just the past several weeks, 25 military cargo flights have been conducted to Russia from Iran. For more information on this growing alliance and how it connects to Ezekiel 38, check out my Breaking News from Tuesday.   Iran continues to supply arms to its proxy militias in Iraq and Syria. However, the actual delivery of these supplies isn’t always successful. On Saturday, a shipment from Iran that had passed through Iraq was destroyed in Deir a-Zor, Syria. In other Iranian weapons news, Iran has reached the capability for the 90% enrichment threshold needed for nuclear bombs. This adds them to the list of other threshold countries who have the technology and resources for nuclear weapons, but has not taken the step of building them yet.   Ahmad Sales, a member of the Popular Defense militia that is connected to Hezbollah in the Golan area, was assassinated in southern Syria. It appears to be an Israeli targeted killing.   A continent away from Syria there was another, much more tragic assassination. During a speech last week, Shinzo Abe, former president of Japan, was killed by an assailant using a homemade shotgun. The assassin, who was captured at the scene, was identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, a former marine of the Japanese Self-Defense Force. Yamagami said that his mother had been bankrupted through her support of the Unification Church, and he resented Abe’s support of the religious group. Abe, however, has never been a member or supporter of the “Moonies”, although at one time he did express appreciation for the group’s “focus and emphasis on family values.”   In an apparent move to leave no crisis unwasted, China protested to Japan for allowing Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai to attend Shinzo Abe’s funeral. Somehow keeping a straight face despite the irony, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused Japan of using Abe’s death for political manipulation. “Japan does not have a so-called vice president,” he said. “It’s impossible this kind of scheming will succeed.” Please give me a moment while I catch my breath after that story.   Sri Lankan President Gotbaya Rajapaksa fled his country to the Maldives, and then on to Singapore. This happened after protestors stormed the presidential palace and amidst massive demonstrations over economics and shortages of staples like food, fuel, and medicines. Rajapaksa named his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as acting president. However, this didn’t satisfy the masses who don’t care for either man, and would like to see the president-in-hiding “in an open prison where they can do farm work.”   Finally, on Tuesday, the Israeli Air Force and the Greek Air Force conducted a joint training simulation. The exercise included both air-to-air combat, as well as refueling operations. While already enjoying close diplomatic relations, the two countries are drawing even closer as they see great opportunities ahead in the area of energy. On The Menu For The Remainder Of 2022: War, Pestilence, Famine - by Michael Snyder - http://endoftheamericandream.com/on-the-menu-for-the-remainder-of-2022-war-pestilence-famine/   Enjoy this summer while you can, because global events will soon escalate to an even more alarming level. Needless to say, if 2022 ended right now it would be remembered for a lot of really bad things. Prior to this year, we didn’t have a war in Ukraine, nobody was talking about monkeypox, inflation was a relatively minor concern, food riots weren’t erupting in poor countries, and we weren’t facing the prospect of a very painful recession. So much has happened in the last six months, but I have a feeling that the next six months are going to be even crazier.   How could that be possible?   Well, how about another major war? On Thursday, Yair Lapid and Joe Biden signed “a joint pledge” that expressed their shared intention to do whatever is necessary to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons.   During a joint appearance following the signing, Biden made the position of the U.S. government very clear…   Biden said Iran has an opportunity to accept the agreement that is before them. “If they don’t, we made absolutely clear: we will not, let me say it again, we will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”   Of course U.S. officials have been saying similar things for a long time.   But now the IAEA has officially announced that Iran “possesses enough fissile material to construct a nuclear bomb”, and so the time to put up or shut up is here.   Israel has been practicing for a strike on Iran, and I am sure that Lapid and Biden extensively discussed the possibility of such a strike happening in the months ahead.   When that day finally arrives, Iran will inevitably hit back really hard, and then a conflict will start that will be really difficult to stop.   Meanwhile, U.S. relations with China continue to go downhill very quickly. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken once again found a way to really anger the Chinese…   The Biden administration reminded China on Tuesday that the US will intervene to defend the Philippines if Manila’s vessels come under attack in the South China Sea.   Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the warning in a statement on the anniversary of an international tribunal ruling that sided with the Philippines against China in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.   And then on Wednesday, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed into disputed waters near the Paracel Islands…   China is fuming after the US Navy on Wednesday sailed a destroyer near the China-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. The Navy’s 7th fleet said that the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold was in the region and passed near the disputed island chain to uphold “the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea.”   China’s Southern Theater Command, however, said it closely monitored the American vessel as it had “illegally entered” China’s territorial waters. The PLA military said it drove the warship away.   I think that war in the Middle East is coming first, but as I have been warning for a long time, we will eventually have war with China too.   On another note, the global monkeypox outbreak continues to get even worse.   It has now spread to 75 different countries, and the total number of cases has risen to 11,166.   I have really been hoping that this doesn’t become a full-blown global pandemic, but the numbers continue to rise at an exponential rate.   At the same time, health authorities are telling us that the “worst variant” of COVID is here, and the number of cases in the U.S. is really starting to spike once again…   Daily Covid infections and deaths are beginning to surge in the U.S. after over a month of little movement – signaling that a summer surge fueled by the BA.5 variant could now be under way.   America is averaging 649 daily deaths from Covid, a 97 percent increase over the past week. It is the largest seven day increase in deaths since early December.   Recorded infections have made a leap as well, to 136,903 per day. It is a 24 percent increase over seven days and the largest daily case average since February – when America was coming down off of the largest Covid surge of the pandemic.   It has become clear that COVID isn’t going away.   Health officials assured us that if we just did what they instructed us to do that we would eventually be able to put this pandemic behind us.   Of course now it is obvious that was not true at all. All of their efforts to end this global pandemic have failed, and now we have a global nightmare on our hands.   So many people have already died during this pandemic, and so many more are going to die in the months ahead.   Speaking of death, the global famine that we were warned about is already here.   According to the head of the UN World Food Program, the number of “acutely hungry people” is now at an all-time high…   The spike in food, fuel and fertilizer prices sparked by the war in Ukraine is threatening to push countries around the world into famine, bringing “global destabilization, starvation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale,” a top U.N. official warned Wednesday.   David Beasley, head of the U.N. World Food Program, said its latest analysis shows that “a record 345 million acutely hungry people are marching to the brink of starvation” — a 25% increase from 276 million at the start of 2022 before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The number stood at 135 million before the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.   We are already seeing an alarming number of people starve to death in some parts of eastern Africa.   Sadly, this even includes very young children…   Ijabu Hassan has had no chance to grieve the deaths of her children. She’s had to focus on keeping the others alive. Her four-year-old and five-year-old died from malnutrition in their inland town of Burhakaba, victims of a record drought that has propelled Somalia to the brink of famine.   Faced with starvation, Hassan took her remaining eight children and began the 15-day trek to reach the capital, Mogadishu. Towards the end of their journey, her two-year-old daughter collapsed and died. They buried her along the way.   It should break your heart to hear of very young children starving to death.   Unfortunately, this is just the beginning.   David Beasley and other global officials are warning that things will get much worse in the months ahead.   This is not a game.   Global events really are starting to spiral out of control, and the “perfect storm” that we are now experiencing will only become more intense from this point forward. The Bottomless Pit - by Bill Perkins - https://compass.org/the-bottomless-pit/   The Bottomless Pit is in the center of the earth. If you are in the Bottomless Pit, no matter which direction you look, you’re looking up. Therefore it is bottomless.   The Bottomless Pit is prominent in the account (not a parable) of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. There we find that prior to the cross, the bottomless pit had two sides called Paradise and Hades.   Prior to the cross, when a person died they went to one side or the other, depending on their eternal destiny. Today, when Believers die post-cross they go straight to heaven because Jesus paid it all.   we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 2Cor. 5:8   Paradise   Paradise was the good side of the Bottomless Pit—it was basically a slice of heaven where all the saved people who died prior to the cross waited until they could go to the 3rd heaven.   No human can enter heaven without having atonement for their sins, so saved people before the cross had to wait in "Paradise" until the Messiah came to redeem them.   That means for 4000 years all the Old Testament saints were hemmed in on the Paradise side of the Bottomless Pit until Jesus provided a way out through His sacrificial blood.   Think about it…that must’ve been quite an interesting group of people waiting for the Messiah to cleanse them. Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaiah, Daniel, David, Solomon…and millions more through the millenniums who were trusting God’s Messiah would come to redeem them.   When the saints in Paradise learned Jesus had died on the cross to pay for their sins, the booming jubilation roar would have been so great it could have been the reason the ground shook in Jerusalem. 🙂   the earth shook and the rocks were split. Matt. 27:51b   Hades   The other side of the Bottomless Pit, separated by a chasm, was Hades. Hades is the horrible habitat of all the unsaved people who are waiting for final White Throne Judgment.   They'll have to stand before God, and without Jesus’ shed blood to cleanse them they’ll have to pay the price for all their sins.   Bummer for them. All will be found guilty and thrown into the lake of fire to burn forever.   The Really Bad Demons   There’s another group holed up in Hades on the other side of the chasm. This group is made up of the worst of the worst of the demonic fallen angels.   These are the demons from the days of Noah whose actions were so vile God had to destroy all mankind except Noah and his family.   The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God [demons] came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Gen. 6:4   The Nephilim were the result of these demons mating with humans. Their DNA was permanently changed from God’s original design, so God had to destroy the earth.   God then locked up these horrible demons in Hades. We have an interesting account of Jesus interacting with demons next to the Sea of Galilee.   A man was possessed with numerous demons named Legion. The demons pleaded with Jesus not to send them to the abyss, referring to Hades.   They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss. Luke 8:31   So the demons in the abyss are the most vile of all the demons, so vile even the other demons didn't want to go there!   All the other fallen angels/demons still roam the earth today. But they're under Holy Spirit restraint during the Church Age dispensation in which we live.   However, the Rapture causes this Godly restraint to be lifted and all hell will break loose. Satan, who is all about death and misery, will cause billions to die. It will not be a good time to be alive on the earth!   But it gets even worse. During the Tribulation the hideous demons locked up in Hades are re-released from the Bottomless Pit. They come up and out of Hades through a shaft and into the earth.(1) I'm guessing it's located under the Giza pyramid in Egypt.   Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Rev. 9:1,2   It’s interesting that in the days of Noah the demons changed the genetic make-up of humans. The Bible says that the days just before the Rapture will be "just like" those days of Noah.   For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. Matt. 24:37   Hmmm, isn’t that what we see today? Satan is subverting God’s creation by changing the human genome through va((ines that change your DNA.   This va((ine-caused change results in such a mess in the Tribulation that those alive would rather die than live—but can’t. Hard to understand but they don’t even have the power to kill themselves by committing suicide.   And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. Rev. 9:6   There’s no telling what’s actually in those Globalists'/Satanists' mandated va((ines and what kind of control they will allow Satan to have over people during the Tribulation. It's incomprehensible evil.   Thankfully, Believers will be rescued prior to God's wrath!   …and to wait for His Son from heaven [in the Rapture], whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 1Thess. 1:10   So we’re grateful we won’t have to deal with the demons from the bottomless pit. Spread the word!   BP   (1) NASB notes: The literal Greek translation of “key to the bottomless pit” is “key to the shaft of the abyss.” Daily Jot: The Farm Chronicles: Joy ride gone awry - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com   In the 1960’s, Dad was partial to the Buick Electra. We had a 1963 convertible, then a 1965 convertible. By 1969, we had graduated to a beautiful Electra 225 four door, charcoal green with white interior. Its 430 cubic inch V-8 360 horsepower engine topped out at about 125 miles per hour, 0-60 in 7.2 seconds, getting about 12 miles to the gallon at about 35 cents a gallon. It was a huge car–spanning almost 19 feet in length with a 25-gallon gas tank. My friend Sonny and I used to joke that the trunk of the car was like a ballroom dance floor. This was the car that I took to my driver’s test in 1971 and I passed the parallel parking on the first try. Dad let me drive this car to places like 4-H meetings. Oh, what he didn’t know.   I was the type of kid that knew my limitations, learning from watching my brothers. Oldest brother Chuck was pretty ornery. He and his friends played a lot of risky pranks on people, but he knew just how far to take it. And he didn’t get caught. In other words, he was responsibly irresponsible. My next oldest brother Larry was a different story. It seemed that no matter what he did, he didn’t get away with it. From coming in late after curfew and backing the car into the tractor to getting a tattoo at the circus, it just seemed that Larry was destined to get caught at any mischief he did. In his defense, he might say that he wasn’t as sneaky as Chuck and more upfront about his adventures. Nonetheless, I adopted the approach of knowing my limitations and never pushing it too far. But that didn’t always save me.   One night, a bunch of us that showed horses together decided to meet up. And I got to drive. It was a mixed group of about seven people. We went to one of the friend’s house, got some pizza and Coca Cola, and were just generally laughing and poking fun at one another. Then it was time to go home. So we all packed up in that Buick. My friend Lee, who was always an instigator, suggested a back way to drop off the Andrews sisters at their home. Well, that old dark narrow country road had a bridge over a creek. This bridge rose up at quite an angle and it gave us a little thrill crossing it at about 30 miles per hour. And everybody wanted to “jump” the bridge again, only a little faster. And that’s one time that I became irresponsibly irresponsible. We turned around in some driveway to a cornfield and headed toward the bridge.   By the time we hit that bridge, we were doing about 70. That old Buick flew about 20 feet in the air before we slammed down. Our laughing suddenly became dead quiet with the surprising force of the car landing so hard that it bottomed out. As I cautiously drove on in silence, we heard something dragging. It was the muffler, and I knew I was in big trouble. Lee and I got out and looked under the car. He burned his hand trying to shove the pipe in place. We found a coat hanger in the trunk, which we rigged to hold up the muffler till I got home. Thinking about the Commandment, “Thou shalt not lie” all the way home, I had to get my story together. I ended up telling Dad we had seven people in the car and it bottomed out over the bridge and the muffler came loose. After some lecturing, to my relief he accepted my explanation and we fixed the muffler. I guess the truth, well mostly the truth, doesn’t hurt that bad. But lesson learned. Daily Devotion: How to Be Spiritually Refreshed - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org   Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’ —Matthew 4:19   https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/how-to-be-spiritually-refreshed/ - Listen   I’m not much of a fisherman, but years ago I was in Alaska and went with some friends on a fishing trip for king salmon. I was with very seasoned fishermen who knew what they were doing, but I didn’t even know how to bait my hook.   I asked our guide, “How will you know when you get a real bite?”   “You’ll know,” he said.   It wasn’t long until my pole moved and I had a king salmon on my line. I reeled away until finally we had the fish next to the boat. And then it broke away. We talk about the one that got away, but in my case it really happened.   Jesus said to Simon Peter and Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 NKJV). A literal translation of this is “catch men alive.”   There’s a certain happiness that comes from sharing the gospel. Proverbs 11:25 says, “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed” (NLT). When we reach out to others, when we put our focus on someone else, it spiritually refreshes us.   Jesus said, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (Luke 6:38 NLT). He also said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35 NKJV).   Who, then, has God called to preach the gospel? All of us. In the original language, Jesus addressed the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20 to everyone, not just preachers, pastors, and missionaries.   God has called all of us to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

PROPHECY UPDATE 7/14/2022

Deception to Explain the Sudden Disappearance of Millions in the Rapture - By Pastor Mike Taylor - https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2022/07/deception-to-explain-sudden.html   “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”( II Thessalonians 2:9-12)   “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. . . . See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:6-11, 15-17)   In times past, I wrote of the coming of a One World Religion that may be headed up by none other than the Roman Catholic Church and it’s pope. Based on their history and their continued efforts through organization such as the Jesuits (Society of Jesus), and co-conspirators such as Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and the emerging church, they are introducing mysticism into church practices and official doctrine. I want you to read an article entitled “The Jesuit Agenda and the Evangelical/Protestant Church” http://www.understandthetimes.org/mobile/commentary/c97new.html (copy and paste in Google if link does not work), . In the article it mentions about the goal of the Emerging Church with the likes of Rick Warren and his cohorts promoting a returning of the brethren to the “mother church”. Quote: “Rick Warren has been one of the many pied pipers of this move to unite through “good works.” Called “America’s pastor,” Warren has become the evangelical/Protestant spokesperson for a one-world religion. His Purpose Driven model has become the battle cry for let just all get along and do good. We can work together as one for one common purpose – peace in the world.” From the article above. It all is designed to set up what I wish to talk about in this sermon.   ALIEN INVASION?   But moving on to the focus of this message, what is the one ingredient that would immediately unite the world into the goal of a One World Government and a One World Religion? It’s a possible scenario even beyond our economic woes and the devaluation of the dollar, or calls for unity of all nations, as there are so many differences in each sovereign nation. What if a world population believed that their very survival was at stake, or that the world, as we know it, was about to abruptly end with violence and untold suffering? What would convince a undiscerning population to follow one man, one government, one religion to give them a sense of calm and reinforce their continued sinful lifestyle?   As far back as 1987, after a meeting with Russian president Gorbachev, President Ronald Reagan spoke of the one thing that would unite the world as one and put all our petty differences aside. President Reagan said, speaking of himself and Gorbachev:: “how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species from another planet outside in the universe. We’d forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries … ”And later in another speech, Reagan remarks were along the same line: “in our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond.”   I believe he spoke in ignorance of that simple truth, for it he had known, then that would make him a prophet, if the following scenario became fact.   Suppose that the population of the world truly believed and were falsely led to believe that an “invasion from another world” had taken place and that this world, this planet was in danger of annihilation? I believe that is the one thing that would instantly unite this world of sinful men to stand against outside forces from invading our world. With the coming environmental attacks against this planet that have already started picks up speed, many will believe anything.   THE WORLD BEING SET UP   If you are middle aged, you can recall back in the 70s, a little movie called “E.T.”. Cute little movie with a cute little being from outer space that only wanted to “phone home.” Since that movie the interest in things beyond our world has escalated into greater and greater interest in all things extraterrestrial. The movie industry has exploded with plots that speak of either friendly, or not so friendly visitors from another planet. Movies such as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1976), Critters,(1986), Signs (2002), Predator series, (starting in 1987), War of the Worlds, (2005), Independence Day, (1996), and Fallen Angels (2007) but to name just a few that Hollywood has made to cash in on the tremendous preoccupation with all things “outer space.” I believe the world has been following the lead of the prince of lies to set up just such a scenario that may be coming in the near future as a lie to the people of earth.   Let's face it - extra terrestrials scare the pants off most of us. These films don't typically portray our little outer space invaders as cute E.T. like creatures. In fact, most films portray them as how they are truly are thought of - evil, murdering, blood-sucking, and anxious to steal and destroy our beautiful earth and it’s environment.   I propose a question, what would happen if the world suddenly realized “in the twinkling of an eye” that millions of people suddenly vanished from off the face of the earth? What would the immediate result be with such a scenario? Would there be utter chaos? Most assuredly people would be confused and scared to death. People have hypothesized the calamity that would befall this world in untold carnage. I write this as you might be reading this on a Christian web-site, as this coming scenario actually happened, and you are looking for answers. It is to you, that I write this. In all your wide eyed astonishment of something totally without explanation in any logical sense, you have been shaken to very core of your being.   Given the modern age of machines that we live in, and operators of these machines were suddenly gone, the untold accidents around the world would cram the TV sets, the internet, and radio for months and months. People would try and make sense of what had just happened. What would be the accepted explanation? Shall I propose something so outlandish, that if it happened, a light bulb would go off in your head?   AGE OF AQUARIUS?   Remember the song by the “Fifth Dimensions” called the “Age of Aquarius”? Was a catchy little tune, but was at the beginning of the New Age idea of a new world coming. Many of these New Agers believe that man must evolve into a higher consciousness, or be transformed into a new creature to live for eternity, by methods such as tran-humanism, or being downloaded into a master super computer. (weird!) Man searches for the “fountain of youth” and to live forever. They forget God and reject the Creator, and instead make themselves a god unto their own likeness. They have no need for a god, or think they do not, but rely only on themselves, calling themselves “humanist” or the worshiping of mankind.   Man has been trying to deny the need for God Almighty, through the deceit and lies of the “prince of all lies” Satan the devil for thousands of years. In modern times with all our technology, with all our modern conveniences, and with science and discovery expanded at a breathtaking pace of doubling of knowledge every couple of years, the modern world has grown more and more wicked and further and further from God. Celebrity entertainers (for lack of a better description) such as Lady GaGa or Miley Cyrus promote a hedonistic lifestyle where anything goes. The old saying, “if it feels good, do it” could not be any truer that it is today.   Singers like this Lady GaGa revel in their sins. I saw where she came in to a concert encased in a large egg, that led some people to postulate that she was promoting a new beginning for all of the world’s people to revel in their lust and sexual desires. And she never fails to amaze me to the level of her depravity and now we have Miley Cyrus “Hannah Montana" wanting to share the passing torch of this woman’s abomination of indecency…Her dad must be proud. These celebrities live for the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Some people love the world and could care less about what it is will happen to them for all eternity. They lust for the here and now. The apostle John warned us through the leading of God when he penned:   “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (I John 2:15-17)   Those who perish do so because they do not receive or welcome—the love of the truth. Because they do not, God will send them a strong delusion, so that they will believe the lie and be condemned. In reality, God is just giving them what they desire anyway. They prefer carnal delusion to spiritual reality, so God obliges them. The unrighteous in Romans chapter 1 desire a world view without a Creator so they can be sexually liberated and do abomination in His sight. God gives them over to it and lets them reap the awful consequences.   21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” (Romans 1:21-28)   IN THE POSSIBLE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE, (Hypothetical) What if?   Suddenly, a News-flash comes over the Internet. Your radio is blaring out as emergency sirens go off all over your neighborhood. Emergency vehicles are rushing to accidents right in your area. You might wonder “What has happened?”. You turn on the TV and the horror of mass confusion fills the screen. Still another is sitting, uninterested listening to a preacher in church tell the same old story that they have heard many, many times, but “hey, it’s not for me.”. Suddenly, they hear something. Maybe it’s a loud clap of thunder, or was it a trumpet blast? They are not sure. It brings them back to reality, as they look around the seats of all the people that were in the pews are basically empty, except them, and a few others who look at them with sheer terror in their eyes. Suddenly, it dawns on them as they had heard it time and time again and never took it seriously. Their mother, or their father, maybe their son, daughter, or any friend that they knew is suddenly ……….GONE!! Vanished!! They were given no warning and they are left in utter terror. They MAY or may not realize with tears and sobs that they just missed the most important event in all of their lives, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to carry His chosen ones, His Father’s children to be with Him, forever and ever.   15:51 “ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1st Corinthians 15:51-53)   Wait a minute, you don’t believe that stuff or let’s say, did not, so there has to be a scientific explanation for this, right? You rush home the best way you can and turn on your TV for news of what has happened. A leader of the “free world” has come on to calm the nation. This future person takes a deep breath, as they realize, that at least the president is still here. (oh, that’s comforting). She/he speaks of reports of many missing people and that Homeland Security is on the scene of many areas of missing people. She/he calls for calm and calls in the National Guard, or what’s left of it, to put down looting and other criminal activity. She/he says stay tuned for further developments.   You switch channels and the report is interviewing a “Emergent Church” pastor that makes the statement that these people were removed from earth, as they stood in the way of man’s quest for a peaceful world and ushering in a New World order and unity of the faith. Without these “rabble rousers” maybe we can live in peace and security and focus on making this world the paradise we had envisioned and have “heaven on earth”. Other than that, he has no real explanation.   Switching channels, they find a serious looking gentleman that has just been elected to a New World body and is quite familiar to them. Seems he came out of nowhere. He might have been a unknown senator from Illinois, or may have been president for a while, but now he heads a World “Council on Human Development” headed by the United Nations. He hypothesizes and backs it up with so-called scientific information of monitoring sightings of unusual signs in the skies that have been being tracked for some years now. He may speak of this “it is the opinion of this world body, that these missing people were the victims of an alien abduction. We have reports of saucer type spacecraft flying in various places. Please stay in your homes and do not answer to anyone without official documentation that they are from your local authorities.”   Obviously, this is conjecture, but I believe it is possible, in this scenario, that the event will be somehow explained away. Many people will grasp onto any explanation of what has just happened. How it will be explained away, is for you that read this in your wide-eyed, sheer terror of the events that just went down all around you.   Know one thing, reader of these words, before the man of sin appears, Satan must lay some groundwork to prepare for his acceptance. What better way than to throw the world into quarreling and divisive and wearying confusion? Could the lie to calm the people be attributed to a “war from an invading race ” that is imminent.”? People then yearn for some strong and seemingly wise hands to set things straight, so the nations can "catch their breath" and have a span of peaceful calm. In its wake, confusion creates directionless people, with little desire to change the status quo, whose minds are turned in upon themselves in an attempt to keep what they have. They want to continue in their sinful lives and find answers to this event that has turned their world upside down.   Remember this verse: “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2nd Thessalonians 2:11-12)   Get ready for what the Bible calls, the man of sin, the son of perdition, called the Anti-Christ who will eventually lead the world to worship him, as a god, and take the mark of his word in the forehead or their right hand. I propose that the Anti-Christ could possibly could come from an Islamic country (or from the leader of the free world as proposed in past messages), as the people left will be ripe for falling in line with the two major religions that is left on earth that may merge into what I call “Chrislam”. All of the rest of the sheeples will be convinced by a man who supports this new leader by claiming him to be what this world needs “a savior”. This man will be the false prophet. What better way to conquer the world, than two competing forces join together to bring all men into a One World Government and a One World Religion than the Anti-Christ being Islamic, and the false prophet being from an apostate “Christian” religion known as the Roman Catholic Church and headed by the false prophet, the Pope in Rome? They will join forces, although for a short while. The harlot church will lead the beast power to take over the remaining population, as both will compete against each other for political position, until one is destroyed according to the Word of God. That harlot church will be burned with fire.   “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.”(Revelation 17:16)   “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:” (Revelation 13:16)   “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:17)     This false Christ, this man of sin, will do amazing things in the sight of men, along with his false prophet, possibly “the pope in Rome.” Both will convince people of what their explanation of these missing people, as truth. They will convince sinful men that they have been invaded by another race of aliens that this earth must unite to do battle with and prevent the destruction of the human race. (Never let a crisis go to waste. Isn’t that what they said?) As this time in history grows darker and darker, and the blood of many souls are spilled for their profession of faith in the Lord of the universe and will not submit to a false “god” it will be their aim to stamp all rebellion to their authority “for the good of the planet.” I believe at the very end, this man of sin will convince a major army to come together to do battle with what many people will believe falsely through his deceit and lying wonders, a “war from another world” has taken place. He will bring them all into a valley of strategic military positions to fight against this alien species and while they are at it, rid themselves of the cancer on mankind, the nation of Israel. Why Israel? Because Satan has hated her from the very beginning, when he saw that the Messiah would come through her.   Maybe it will eventually dawn on some of them that this is not some alien attack, and some may realize that they are gathered to fight against God Himself, but too late to do anything about it, as it will be over in a flash.   Revelation 16:16 "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."   Here our God and Savior, will make short work of this vast army who has come to fight. Will each and every person there believe that he is fighting an invading world for the good of this planet and the survival of the human species? Makes for interesting discussions and it very well could be so, as the lie that has been broadcast for the last 7 years has penetrated sinful men’s minds to believe and give allegiance to one man who they look to as their “god”. But Jesus will deliver the final blow to this rebellion against God Almighty.   You remember the statement when America invaded Iraq with “shock and awe”? Jesus coming back to set up his kingdom and destroy all rebellion is the real SHOCK AND AWE. Not only is our Savior coming to reign and rule with “shock and awe”, it will be the greatest destruction as you can ever have imagined it. The angel calls the birds to devour the flesh of all people, small and great. Our Creator comes back to wage a righteous war, one that has been brewing for 6,000 years due to man’s hostility and rebellion to God and the lies of the “god of this world” Satan, the devil. By the time this prophecy is fulfilled, God has had enough of sin. Jesus Christ comes back and treads the winepress of His wrath, where the blood spilled comes up to the horse's bridles. It is hard to imagine blood four or six feet deep and flowing like a river in a 200 mile long valley. Revelation chapter 14, speaks of this valley outside Jerusalem,   “And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” (Revelation 14:20)   WHERE WILL BE YOU BE IN THIS TERRIBLE HOUR?   I write this to all who may be reading this commentary after the event of millions of people disappearing from this planet. We, who are prepared, need not fear, but be lifting up our heads, “because our redemption draweth night”. (Luke 21:28). But to you who are frightened, confused, and searching for an explanation, you have read the possible reason, and you have read the possible lies that will be forthcoming after this event caught you off-guard. It doesn’t matter what the lie is being proposed, you have just been duped to believing in yourself and no need for God, by Lucifer, the prince of darkness, to your own destruction. The next 7 years will be the most gruesome time in all of mankind’s history. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24:,   24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”   If you are reading this, and this disappearance of a billion + people has not yet happened, rest assured, God will do what He said He will do. All that I have tried to do is make as an imagery in your minds of the horror that is coming, the lies that will be spoken, the lying wonders designed to deceive you will be done according to what the Word of God says. If you are this side of the lies and this reported possible “war of the worlds” then there is still time to make Jesus the Lord of your life. If you wish to find out the true path to everlasting life, then I invite you to send me an email inquiring the path to take and instruction in true biblical faith in the only Savior of mankind. Remember one thing from here to the events I attempt to hypothesize...when this happens, a lie WILL be put out in the media to confuse you, to calm you, and yes, to lie to you.   “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”(Matthew 7:13-14)   I beseech you, do not be the one who follows the broad way, as that is the way of the Anti-Christ and the coming tribulation, but enter by the way of the narrow path and the narrow gate to everlasting life. Do not believe whatever lie is thrown out for an explanation of a millions + people gone missing. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ while the time is still available before the Tribulation begins all its unspeakable horrors. That gate is Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Wish to find out more? Email me! Because if you are reading this and any scenario explaining the disappearance of so many people instantly, then my friend “Woe unto you.” The prophecies outlined in Revelation chapter 6-19 are at your very doorstep.   16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:16-18)   Fall on your knees and cry out to God and confess to those around you that Jesus is Lord of your life:   8” But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(Romans 10:8-13)   This is Pastor Mike Taylor, wishing you God’s love in your life. If you wish to email me for biblical Prayer, or just to listen, send me an email request to pastormiketaylor@yahoo.com  or visit me online for more biblical instructions at www.pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com , God bless you, till we meet at Jesus feet.

Tracking the Trend Towards the Tribulation - by Jan Markell – www.olivetreeviews.org   I have been watching the convergence of the so-called signs of the times since someone handed me Hal Lindsey’s “Late-Great Planet Earth” many years ago. The book got my attention! Since then, I am fascinated with how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled.   The apocalypse is in the air!   But in the last few years, things are happening so quickly that observers of the times can’t keep up. It’s as though the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are now out of the barn, but they can’t make their global appearance until the Church is called Home in the Rapture. The Bible is clear that we will be with Jesus in Heaven before these riders begin their deadly trek across planet earth.   Here is a very short list of things I am noting in this year of 2022 to date, indicating time is winding down and we will be whisked away very soon.   *      We already see the formation of this coming New World Order through the U.N. and the World Economic Forum (WEF). Without firing a shot, they have gained the allegiance of most world leaders for their Marxist plans to enslave the people of the world.   The globalists believe they have the means to reshape the world according to their agenda via the influence they have gained over the global leaders of our day. A one-world government will be birthed once the Church vacates! The players are in place.   *     Three words in the Bible jumped out at me recently: “without natural affection” (II Tim. 3:3). That happens to a final generation. But who could have imagined today’s society celebrating the trans movement, homosexual marriage, and the slaughtering of the unborn? All of these operate “without natural affection.”   And these issues are a leftist obsession! They love every imaginable aberration. Those standing for biblical values, such as pro-life groups, are under literal violent attack!   *      That same passage opens talking about “perilous times.” Sure, we’ve had perilous times since WWI. The carnage of WWII was unthinkable. But now Russia’s lunatic leader is threatening the world with nukes.   *      Let me spend an extra moment on economic issues, inflation, and famine, all prophesied to occur during Daniel’s 70th Week or the Tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s Trouble.” Are we not seeing the stage-setting for that now?   As the food “apocalypse” approaches, the poorest peoples will suffer as they always do. But it is feared that the pain will rapidly move up the global food chain. With that comes a surge in political turbulence, humanitarian crises, and global instability.   Add to this the shortage of fertilizer and the word apocalypse is, indeed, appropriate, and not over used here.   U.S. farmer sentiment plummeted. More than 60% of farmers predict farm input prices to be at least 30% higher this year compared to 2021. European farmers are demonstrating and even rioting over policies forced on them that could lead to global famine. They see the actions of the globalists for what it is: An effort to destroy the world's food supply.   Throw in the mysterious destruction of multiple food processing plants and the deaths of poultry and livestock too numerous to tally.   Also in June, the soaring stock market took a nose dive and Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, admitted they are looking at replacing cash with digital currency that will keep track of everything you purchase.   Surely the black horse is ready to ride!   *     To be blunt, economies around the world are on the verge of collapse. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is warning about a “coming economic hurricane.” He states, "You better brace yourself.”   *      How can I not reference the raging apostasy, the wolves among the flock, and the doctrine of demons, all thriving in many churches today? This sad state of church affairs may be one of the most significant signs of the times out there. And most churches will not touch certain topics essential to helping people understand the times!   A recent study reveals that just 37% of Christian pastors have a biblical worldview! More than 2/3 do not!   *     We are watching Israel sound the war drums even in the midst of her collapsed government. In the face of Iran’s continued development of nuclear capability (she’s almost there), the Israeli Air Force has developed a new capability to fly its F-35 jets from Israel to Iran without requiring mid-air refueling.    I have provided just a few short bullet points that I have kept my eye on here in 2022 that tell me the King is coming any day. I could list dozens more. We are trending towards the Tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s trouble.”   And while believers can rejoice at our destination, remember that contained in the above situations are much suffering and perplexity globally. And human beings cannot solve these problems. That is why the word “perplexity” is seen in Luke 21:25. In the meantime, we are on a rescue mission to save the lost.   The King of Kings must return to establish His earthly Kingdom on earth and clean up chaos, confusion, and consternation brought about by the Antichrist and his minions. The stage is being set now. The curtain for the last act could rise any day.   No previous generation has seen this stunning convergence allowing everything to fall into place. . . . Prophetic Countdown? Netanyahu Promises Peace Accords with Multiple Nations – by PNW Staff - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5467   Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to bring full peace agreements with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries if he wins the election for the 25th Knesset this fall and forms a government.   Netanyahu said: "I would like to express my appreciation to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, for his contribution to the achievement of the four historic peace agreements we have brought - the 'Abraham Accords.'"   "If I return to lead the State of Israel on your behalf, I intend to bring about full peace agreements with Saudi Arabia and also with other Arab countries," Netanyahu added.   While Netanyahu's return to power is far from a certainty, it does show the desire of Israeli leaders to expand the peace agreements that have begun with several Arab nations through the 'Abraham Accords' - regardless of who might win the upcoming elections.   Peace with Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Sunni Muslim world would be an amazing turn of events after continuous wars since Israel's creation. Some would call such a peace agreement even 'prophetic'.   Prophecy teachers have long warned that one of the single most important prophetic events to watch for as an indication of the start of the 'tribulation period' is the signing/ratifying of a 7 year peace accord between Israel and many nations.   This prophetic period of time is detailed in the Book of Daniel as well as throughout the book of Revelation. Daniel 9:27 warns us that this specific prophetic period of time will begin when "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."   Several key details are important in this passage that scholars have debated for centuries including the reference to "He". Most Bible experts agree this is a reference to who Jesus calls the "abomination that causes desolation" (Matthew 24:15) and is called "the beast" in Revelation 13. He is most commonly known by the term the "Antichrist". This Antichrist figure will be a world leader with influence/control over 10 leaders or 10 regions and be a key player in brining about or ratifying/expanding current treaties (Abraham Accords?).   This Antichrist figure will be exposed for the false leader that he is when he breaks this covenant/agreement for peace half way through, putting a stop to sacrifice in the rebuilt Jewish temple and declaring himself God (abomination of desolation). A key component of this peace agreement appears to be a rebuilt Jewish temple.    PNW regularly includes articles on the developments in Israel to bring about the rebuilt temple including the training of priests, the search for a red heifer, the reconstruction of temple instruments, etc... the main ingredient missing is the heart of the majority of the Jewish people to see the temple rebuilt and the political will to do in the midst of a hostile Arab world.    Could a future peace agreement provide for such a temple? It is hard to see the Muslim world ever agreeing to a Jewish temple near the Dome of the Rock, however if Saudi Arabia was to sign a treaty with Israel a religious component would make sense as it represents the center of Islam. Should Saudi Arabia sign, countless other Arab nations could follow, thus the "many" reference in Daniel.    Saudi Arabia has also made clear in the past they would not agree to any peace deal until the Palestinian issue was solved, thus giving a true false sense of security in Israel that "peace and safety" has finally been achieved in the Middle East. It also makes sense that such a significant treaty would have the backing of world powers to 'confirm' or 'guarantee' such a treaty.   This recent statement by Netanyahu reminds us of this desire to one day reach a final peace accord. Ironically, Shiite Iran's push for a nuclear weapon is speeding up the timetable for Saudi Arabia, Israel and other nations to come to some type of rapprochement in an effort to counter Iran's power. Whether the famous battle of Ezekiel 38 will happen before or after the start of this Tribulation period begins remains to be seen.... but it appears the two events will be prophetically interlinked.   What we are seeing now is a foreshadowing of things to come but until all of them are fulfilled exactly as scripture foretells we can only speculate as to how our modern world may bring these about. Many aspects of this prophecy seem to be far off or even too wild to believe, however Covid has shown us how our entire world can be turned upside-down in a matter of months. Scripture has already given us the outline of what is to come, now we just have to wait for the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place. PNW will be updating you on these events as we draw near to their fulfillment. Something That We Have Been Waiting For Just Happened, And It Is A Really Bad Sign… - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/something-that-we-have-been-waiting-for-just-happened-and-it-is-a-really-bad-sign/   There has been a lot of talk recently about “the death of the dollar”, but the truth is that the euro is in far bigger trouble. Inflation in the eurozone has risen to truly frightening levels, and the war in Ukraine threatens to plunge the major economies of Europe into a very deep recession. Russia holds the key, because if Russia completely cuts off the flow of natural gas to Europe it really will cause an unprecedented economic nightmare. Even now, energy prices in Europe have already soared to absolutely insane levels, and the Russians could make things much, much worse with a single decision. The Europeans should have never allowed themselves to become so dependent on Russian energy, and now they find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.   So with everything that has been going on, it shouldn’t be any surprise that the euro has been steadily falling.   In fact, on Tuesday the euro reached parity with the dollar for the very first time since 2002…   The euro hit parity with the U.S. dollar on Tuesday for the first time in 20 years, meaning that the currencies have the same worth.   The euro fell to $0.9998 against the dollar, it’s lowest level since December 2002, as the euro zone’s energy supply crisis and economic woes continue to depress the common currency.   For years, I have been warning that the euro would eventually fall so low that it would be at parity with the dollar, and now that day has arrived.   And I have also been warning that such an event would be a really bad sign for Europe, because I always felt that hitting parity with the dollar would be an indication that a collapse of the European economy had begun.   In the short-term, everyone is going to be watching for what Russia does next. On Monday, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was shut down for a regularly scheduled 10 day period of maintenance…   Fears of a recession have grown in recent weeks due to rising uncertainty over the bloc’s energy supply, with Russia threatening to further reduce gas flows to Germany and the broader continent.   Russia temporarily suspended gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday for annual summer maintenance works. The pipeline is Europe’s single biggest piece of gas import infrastructure, carrying around 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.   Many analysts in the western world are greatly concerned about what will happen if the Russians don’t turn the gas back on when the 10 day maintenance period is over.   If it doesn’t get turned back on, we are being warned that Europe could actually be facing a “doomsday scenario”…   As such, DB’s Jim Reid said that July 22, the day gas is supposed to come back online, could be the most important day of the year: “while we all spend most of our market time thinking about the Fed and a recession, I suspect what happens to Russian gas in H2 is potentially an even bigger story. Of course by July 22nd parts may have be found and the supply might start to normalize. Anyone who tells you they know what is going to happen here is guessing but as minimum it should be a huge focal point for everyone in markets.”   Fast forward to today when, one day after the start of the scheduled 10-day shutdown period which has already sent flows through to NS 1 pipeline to basically zero…   … and the market is now focusing on the worst case scenario: what happens if Russia cuts off all gas on July 22, the day even Bloomberg has now dubbed Europe’s “doomsday scenario.”   So let’s watch and see what happens on July 22nd.   If the Russians decide that it is time to completely cut off the gas, European financial markets will go completely haywire.   Of course energy prices in Europe have already gone completely nuts, and authorities in Germany are preparing to use “sports arenas and exhibition halls as ‘warm up spaces’ this winter”…   Cities across Germany are planning to use sports arenas and exhibition halls as ‘warm up spaces’ this winter to help freezing citizens who are unable to afford skyrocketing energy costs.   Bild newspaper reveals how the the nation’s Cities and Municipalities Association has urged local authorities to set aside public spaces to help vulnerable citizens in the colder months.   This isn’t how things were supposed to play out.   The “green energy revolution” was supposed to have totally transformed Europe by now.   But that hasn’t happened and it isn’t going to happen.   On the other side of the Atlantic, we continue to get more signs that the U.S. economy is headed for serious trouble as well. For example, we just learned that home sale cancellations have risen to the highest level since the early days of the COVID pandemic…   Approximately 600,000 home purchase agreements fell through in June, according to a new analysis by Redfin.   The figure is equivalent to 14.9% of homes that went under contract during the month, an increase from 12.7% in May and 11.2% a year ago.   And as the greatest housing bubble in our entire history starts to implode, companies in the industry continue to lay off more workers…   Another lender is resorting to layoffs as the mortgage market shrivels.   Tucked in near the end of a business plan released Tuesday morning, loanDepot announced it would shed 4,800 people, or 42 percent of its workforce.   About 2,800 of them have already been sent packing as the firm slashes headcount to 6,500 from 11,300.   The last housing crash was really painful, and this one is going to be even more bitter.   Meanwhile, the Biden administration is warning that we are about to see another huge inflation number…   White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Monday said the administration expects a high inflation number when the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) is released Wednesday, but downplayed any fault of President Biden in the matter.   “On Wednesday, we have new CPI and inflation data, and we expect the headline number, which includes gas and food, to be highly elevated, mainly because gas prices were so elevated in June,” Jean-Pierre said. “Gas and food prices continue to be heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine.”   The Biden administration has lost control, and Joe Biden’s approval ratings continue to sink to horrifying new lows.   The Federal Reserve has lost control as well, and if Fed officials continue to raise interest rates they are going to greatly accelerate this new economic downturn.   If you are waiting for our leaders to rescue us from the economic nightmare that is now staring us in the face, you are going to be greatly disappointed.   The great “unraveling” that I have warned about for so long is here, and it is going to be exceedingly unpleasant.   I hope that you are doing your best to get prepared for the road that is ahead, because we are in for a really bumpy trip. Daily Jot: Insanity - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com   Back in the day when I was growing up on the farm in Ohio, nonsense, stupidity and insanity were not tolerated. There were ways to deal with each, the insanity usually resulted in separation from society until the mental health of the person was healed. Today, we elect them to public office and let them run society into the dirt. Today there is a toleration for almost every form of nonsense, stupidity and insanity. Think about it. We have Planned Parenthood wanting to evangelize transgenderism in school children—and I’m sure there are school systems and parents dumb enough to allow it. We have a US Senator saying that Pregnancy Care Centers should be shut down because they torture pregnant people. Lunacy!   Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a former failed presidential candidate, refuses to recognize pregnant women because she believes that all genders can get pregnant. In fact, so do a lot of these twisted crazies. They also are of the ilk that want to promote that there are dozens of different genders or sexual orientations—and they want to indoctrinate our children to be accepting of them or even be one of them. These pro-abortion activists are also crazy. Yes, crazy. They are out there marching and protesting and stalking judges for the non-existent “right” to kill their babies in the womb. And they are radical about it. Some religious denominations are saying it is a biblical right. I guess all the verses and context of the Bible that stress choosing life, having it more abundantly, and God knowing you before you were born have no meaning.   We have a president who lands in Israel and doesn’t know where he is, has to have frequent naps, falls off his bike, and misspeaks all the time—the latest saying that we all must keep alive the “honor of the holocaust.” What? Yes, he corrected himself quickly, but a person in his position should never misspeak on that topic–in Israel no less. All this could be excusable, but inflation is now beating out the Jimmy Carter years and his policies are directly responsible for driving the country into a recession—in an electric car because gas prices are too high. His policies have reduced buying power and have caused major disruptions in food supplies and most everything else. If he isn’t insane, his policies certainly are. Sadly, he appears to be suffering from dementia and his power-hungry puppeteers just keep pulling the strings.   We have a Supreme Court Justice who will not give a definition of “woman.” We have a First Lady who thinks race and ethnicity is identified by the kind of food people eat. All this against the backdrop that a record number of Americans, mostly identifying as—guess what?—democrats, no longer believe in God. See a connection? I’m reminded of David acting crazy before the Philistine King Achish in 1 Samuel 21:15 prompting Achish’s response, “Am I lacking madmen that you have brought this fellow to act demented in my presence?” Only with David it was an act. These political leaders we have before us today are intentional. In any other time in history, they would be judged mentally unfit. Today, not so much. And that truly is insanity. Daily Devotion: The Gospel Defined - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org   And they were preaching the gospel there —Acts 14:7   https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-gospel-defined/ - Listen   What is the gospel? We know we should preach the gospel and live by the gospel, but do we know what the gospel is?   A literal translation of the word “gospel” is good news. Now, sometimes before we can appreciate the Good News, we first have to know the bad news.   Here’s the bad news: We’re all sinners. The Bible says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT). And 1 John 1:8 tells us, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (NLT).   If you’re sharing your faith with someone, don’t assume they’ll necessarily know what sin is. In the Bible, we can translate the word “sin” in different ways. We can translate it as “trespass,” which means to cross the line. Another translation comes from the Greek word hamartia, which means “to miss the mark.”   When the Bible says that we’ve sinned or missed the mark, it means that we’ve fallen short of God’s standard for humanity. And what is that standard? It’s perfection.   Are we perfect? No, we aren’t.   That is where Jesus comes in. Because God knew we could not hit this mark, because God knew we could not be perfect people, Jesus died on the cross for our sin. That’s the good news. Romans 5:6 says, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (NLT).   Here’s the first verse every Christian should memorize: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).   That is the gospel in a nutshell. Share it with someone. Let’s not turn the Good News into bad news by the way we deliver it, distort it, or leave out parts of it. Let’s deliver the explosive, dynamic, gospel. Prophetic Countdown? Netanyahu Promises Peace Accords with Multiple Nations – by PNW Staff - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5467   Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to bring full peace agreements with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries if he wins the election for the 25th Knesset this fall and forms a government.   Netanyahu said: "I would like to express my appreciation to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, for his contribution to the achievement of the four historic peace agreements we have brought - the 'Abraham Accords.'"   "If I return to lead the State of Israel on your behalf, I intend to bring about full peace agreements with Saudi Arabia and also with other Arab countries," Netanyahu added.   While Netanyahu's return to power is far from a certainty, it does show the desire of Israeli leaders to expand the peace agreements that have begun with several Arab nations through the 'Abraham Accords' - regardless of who might win the upcoming elections.   Peace with Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Sunni Muslim world would be an amazing turn of events after continuous wars since Israel's creation. Some would call such a peace agreement even 'prophetic'.   Prophecy teachers have long warned that one of the single most important prophetic events to watch for as an indication of the start of the 'tribulation period' is the signing/ratifying of a 7 year peace accord between Israel and many nations.   This prophetic period of time is detailed in the Book of Daniel as well as throughout the book of Revelation. Daniel 9:27 warns us that this specific prophetic period of time will begin when "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."   Several key details are important in this passage that scholars have debated for centuries including the reference to "He". Most Bible experts agree this is a reference to who Jesus calls the "abomination that causes desolation" (Matthew 24:15) and is called "the beast" in Revelation 13. He is most commonly known by the term the "Antichrist". This Antichrist figure will be a world leader with influence/control over 10 leaders or 10 regions and be a key player in brining about or ratifying/expanding current treaties (Abraham Accords?).   This Antichrist figure will be exposed for the false leader that he is when he breaks this covenant/agreement for peace half way through, putting a stop to sacrifice in the rebuilt Jewish temple and declaring himself God (abomination of desolation). A key component of this peace agreement appears to be a rebuilt Jewish temple.    PNW regularly includes articles on the developments in Israel to bring about the rebuilt temple including the training of priests, the search for a red heifer, the reconstruction of temple instruments, etc... the main ingredient missing is the heart of the majority of the Jewish people to see the temple rebuilt and the political will to do in the midst of a hostile Arab world.    Could a future peace agreement provide for such a temple? It is hard to see the Muslim world ever agreeing to a Jewish temple near the Dome of the Rock, however if Saudi Arabia was to sign a treaty with Israel a religious component would make sense as it represents the center of Islam. Should Saudi Arabia sign, countless other Arab nations could follow, thus the "many" reference in Daniel.    Saudi Arabia has also made clear in the past they would not agree to any peace deal until the Palestinian issue was solved, thus giving a true false sense of security in Israel that "peace and safety" has finally been achieved in the Middle East. It also makes sense that such a significant treaty would have the backing of world powers to 'confirm' or 'guarantee' such a treaty.   This recent statement by Netanyahu reminds us of this desire to one day reach a final peace accord. Ironically, Shiite Iran's push for a nuclear weapon is speeding up the timetable for Saudi Arabia, Israel and other nations to come to some type of rapprochement in an effort to counter Iran's power. Whether the famous battle of Ezekiel 38 will happen before or after the start of this Tribulation period begins remains to be seen.... but it appears the two events will be prophetically interlinked.   What we are seeing now is a foreshadowing of things to come but until all of them are fulfilled exactly as scripture foretells we can only speculate as to how our modern world may bring these about. Many aspects of this prophecy seem to be far off or even too wild to believe, however Covid has shown us how our entire world can be turned upside-down in a matter of months. Scripture has already given us the outline of what is to come, now we just have to wait for the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place. PNW will be updating you on these events as we draw near to their fulfillment. Something That We Have Been Waiting For Just Happened, And It Is A Really Bad Sign… - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/something-that-we-have-been-waiting-for-just-happened-and-it-is-a-really-bad-sign/   There has been a lot of talk recently about “the death of the dollar”, but the truth is that the euro is in far bigger trouble. Inflation in the eurozone has risen to truly frightening levels, and the war in Ukraine threatens to plunge the major economies of Europe into a very deep recession. Russia holds the key, because if Russia completely cuts off the flow of natural gas to Europe it really will cause an unprecedented economic nightmare. Even now, energy prices in Europe have already soared to absolutely insane levels, and the Russians could make things much, much worse with a single decision. The Europeans should have never allowed themselves to become so dependent on Russian energy, and now they find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.   So with everything that has been going on, it shouldn’t be any surprise that the euro has been steadily falling.   In fact, on Tuesday the euro reached parity with the dollar for the very first time since 2002…   The euro hit parity with the U.S. dollar on Tuesday for the first time in 20 years, meaning that the currencies have the same worth.   The euro fell to $0.9998 against the dollar, it’s lowest level since December 2002, as the euro zone’s energy supply crisis and economic woes continue to depress the common currency.   For years, I have been warning that the euro would eventually fall so low that it would be at parity with the dollar, and now that day has arrived.   And I have also been warning that such an event would be a really bad sign for Europe, because I always felt that hitting parity with the dollar would be an indication that a collapse of the European economy had begun.   In the short-term, everyone is going to be watching for what Russia does next. On Monday, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was shut down for a regularly scheduled 10 day period of maintenance…   Fears of a recession have grown in recent weeks due to rising uncertainty over the bloc’s energy supply, with Russia threatening to further reduce gas flows to Germany and the broader continent.   Russia temporarily suspended gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday for annual summer maintenance works. The pipeline is Europe’s single biggest piece of gas import infrastructure, carrying around 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.   Many analysts in the western world are greatly concerned about what will happen if the Russians don’t turn the gas back on when the 10 day maintenance period is over.   If it doesn’t get turned back on, we are being warned that Europe could actually be facing a “doomsday scenario”…   As such, DB’s Jim Reid said that July 22, the day gas is supposed to come back online, could be the most important day of the year: “while we all spend most of our market time thinking about the Fed and a recession, I suspect what happens to Russian gas in H2 is potentially an even bigger story. Of course by July 22nd parts may have be found and the supply might start to normalize. Anyone who tells you they know what is going to happen here is guessing but as minimum it should be a huge focal point for everyone in markets.”   Fast forward to today when, one day after the start of the scheduled 10-day shutdown period which has already sent flows through to NS 1 pipeline to basically zero…   … and the market is now focusing on the worst case scenario: what happens if Russia cuts off all gas on July 22, the day even Bloomberg has now dubbed Europe’s “doomsday scenario.”   So let’s watch and see what happens on July 22nd.   If the Russians decide that it is time to completely cut off the gas, European financial markets will go completely haywire.   Of course energy prices in Europe have already gone completely nuts, and authorities in Germany are preparing to use “sports arenas and exhibition halls as ‘warm up spaces’ this winter”…   Cities across Germany are planning to use sports arenas and exhibition halls as ‘warm up spaces’ this winter to help freezing citizens who are unable to afford skyrocketing energy costs.   Bild newspaper reveals how the the nation’s Cities and Municipalities Association has urged local authorities to set aside public spaces to help vulnerable citizens in the colder months.   This isn’t how things were supposed to play out.   The “green energy revolution” was supposed to have totally transformed Europe by now.   But that hasn’t happened and it isn’t going to happen.   On the other side of the Atlantic, we continue to get more signs that the U.S. economy is headed for serious trouble as well. For example, we just learned that home sale cancellations have risen to the highest level since the early days of the COVID pandemic…   Approximately 600,000 home purchase agreements fell through in June, according to a new analysis by Redfin.   The figure is equivalent to 14.9% of homes that went under contract during the month, an increase from 12.7% in May and 11.2% a year ago.   And as the greatest housing bubble in our entire history starts to implode, companies in the industry continue to lay off more workers…   Another lender is resorting to layoffs as the mortgage market shrivels.   Tucked in near the end of a business plan released Tuesday morning, loanDepot announced it would shed 4,800 people, or 42 percent of its workforce.   About 2,800 of them have already been sent packing as the firm slashes headcount to 6,500 from 11,300.   The last housing crash was really painful, and this one is going to be even more bitter.   Meanwhile, the Biden administration is warning that we are about to see another huge inflation number…   White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Monday said the administration expects a high inflation number when the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) is released Wednesday, but downplayed any fault of President Biden in the matter.   “On Wednesday, we have new CPI and inflation data, and we expect the headline number, which includes gas and food, to be highly elevated, mainly because gas prices were so elevated in June,” Jean-Pierre said. “Gas and food prices continue to be heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine.”   The Biden administration has lost control, and Joe Biden’s approval ratings continue to sink to horrifying new lows.   The Federal Reserve has lost control as well, and if Fed officials continue to raise interest rates they are going to greatly accelerate this new economic downturn.   If you are waiting for our leaders to rescue us from the economic nightmare that is now staring us in the face, you are going to be greatly disappointed.   The great “unraveling” that I have warned about for so long is here, and it is going to be exceedingly unpleasant.   I hope that you are doing your best to get prepared for the road that is ahead, because we are in for a really bumpy trip. Daily Jot: Insanity - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com   Back in the day when I was growing up on the farm in Ohio, nonsense, stupidity and insanity were not tolerated. There were ways to deal with each, the insanity usually resulted in separation from society until the mental health of the person was healed. Today, we elect them to public office and let them run society into the dirt. Today there is a toleration for almost every form of nonsense, stupidity and insanity. Think about it. We have Planned Parenthood wanting to evangelize transgenderism in school children—and I’m sure there are school systems and parents dumb enough to allow it. We have a US Senator saying that Pregnancy Care Centers should be shut down because they torture pregnant people. Lunacy!   Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a former failed presidential candidate, refuses to recognize pregnant women because she believes that all genders can get pregnant. In fact, so do a lot of these twisted crazies. They also are of the ilk that want to promote that there are dozens of different genders or sexual orientations—and they want to indoctrinate our children to be accepting of them or even be one of them. These pro-abortion activists are also crazy. Yes, crazy. They are out there marching and protesting and stalking judges for the non-existent “right” to kill their babies in the womb. And they are radical about it. Some religious denominations are saying it is a biblical right. I guess all the verses and context of the Bible that stress choosing life, having it more abundantly, and God knowing you before you were born have no meaning.   We have a president who lands in Israel and doesn’t know where he is, has to have frequent naps, falls off his bike, and misspeaks all the time—the latest saying that we all must keep alive the “honor of the holocaust.” What? Yes, he corrected himself quickly, but a person in his position should never misspeak on that topic–in Israel no less. All this could be excusable, but inflation is now beating out the Jimmy Carter years and his policies are directly responsible for driving the country into a recession—in an electric car because gas prices are too high. His policies have reduced buying power and have caused major disruptions in food supplies and most everything else. If he isn’t insane, his policies certainly are. Sadly, he appears to be suffering from dementia and his power-hungry puppeteers just keep pulling the strings.   We have a Supreme Court Justice who will not give a definition of “woman.” We have a First Lady who thinks race and ethnicity is identified by the kind of food people eat. All this against the backdrop that a record number of Americans, mostly identifying as—guess what?—democrats, no longer believe in God. See a connection? I’m reminded of David acting crazy before the Philistine King Achish in 1 Samuel 21:15 prompting Achish’s response, “Am I lacking madmen that you have brought this fellow to act demented in my presence?” Only with David it was an act. These political leaders we have before us today are intentional. In any other time in history, they would be judged mentally unfit. Today, not so much. And that truly is insanity. Daily Devotion: The Gospel Defined - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org   And they were preaching the gospel there —Acts 14:7   https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-gospel-defined/ - Listen   What is the gospel? We know we should preach the gospel and live by the gospel, but do we know what the gospel is?   A literal translation of the word “gospel” is good news. Now, sometimes before we can appreciate the Good News, we first have to know the bad news.   Here’s the bad news: We’re all sinners. The Bible says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT). And 1 John 1:8 tells us, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (NLT).   If you’re sharing your faith with someone, don’t assume they’ll necessarily know what sin is. In the Bible, we can translate the word “sin” in different ways. We can translate it as “trespass,” which means to cross the line. Another translation comes from the Greek word hamartia, which means “to miss the mark.”   When the Bible says that we’ve sinned or missed the mark, it means that we’ve fallen short of God’s standard for humanity. And what is that standard? It’s perfection.   Are we perfect? No, we aren’t.   That is where Jesus comes in. Because God knew we could not hit this mark, because God knew we could not be perfect people, Jesus died on the cross for our sin. That’s the good news. Romans 5:6 says, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (NLT).   Here’s the first verse every Christian should memorize: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).   That is the gospel in a nutshell. Share it with someone. Let’s not turn the Good News into bad news by the way we deliver it, distort it, or leave out parts of it. Let’s deliver the explosive, dynamic, gospel.