Hear from God and Share the Message

 "Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbour, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his (or her) nakedness! Habakkuk 2:15 (NKJV)

In this chapter we also see the most horrible sin dominating the world in the darkest of times.

    It speaks of evil men using violent coercion and alcohol (or drugs) to sexually abuse powerless victims (male or female). 
        In today’s world rape, kidnapping and trading slaves for prostitution is out of control. It is a huge global industry.

Liberal humanist governments have legalised prostitution in many countries, hoping this will prevent and help control violent criminal sexual abuse but such laws has often have often produced the opposite result.

The democratic freedom we rightly value comes from Western Europe, Britain and former British colonies. These are the countries where the Bible once had a profound influence on culture.

Liberal democracy is only fully effective when there is a measure of respect for Biblical truth and moral goodness.

    When the God of the Bible is ignored or despised, Western Society, once known as Christendom, falls to pieces. That is what we are seeing today.
    All Western Countries are sinking under a mountain of debt and moral confusion.

Habakkuk Chapter 2 vividly describes this chaos. However, in this chapter we also find the solution to the problem.

 I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.  

    Then the LORD answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.

    For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.

"Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. Hab 2:1-4 (NKJV)


In the traumatic End Times, faithful believers will seek personal encounters with the Living God of Israel and He will not disappoint us. 

    God will share profound and powerful truths with those who love Him and listen to Him.

When God gives you a message to share, don’t wait until your pastor invites you to preach on Sunday because it probably won’t happen. 

    God calls you to share His messages with the people around you, at home, at work, on the bus and on the Internet.
    But don’t just preach. Live by faith. In these difficult times, only a profoundly personal faith in God will get you through. 
    However, the End Time is not only a time of darkness.

    God will answer our heart cry for His presence in a way we have not yet seen or understood, although many of us are beginning to experience fresh revelations of His glory.

 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. Hab 2:14 (NKJV) 

We see a similar message in Isaiah.

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. Isa 60:1 (NKJV)  

It is time for us to begin to see the glory of God in more dramatic abundance than ever before. 

    I believe we will see extreme miracles which will surpass the miracles of Moses and the Miracles worked by Jesus when He lived as a man.

Never before in history has the earth been FILLED with the KNOWLEDGE of the Glory of God but it will happen. 

    And it will happen in the midst of darkness and strife before Jesus returns.

Christian nationalists try to fix this by seizing political power and imposing a legalistic form of Christianity on nations, but I don’t see this in the bible. The revival to come must be from God alone, and not from moral compromises to gain power.

Faith and Unbelief in the End Times

 Not only Jesus raised the dead to life again, but also some prophets in the Old Testament and apostles in the New Testament.  

Some today want to believe in Jesus somehow, but they also want to deny the amazing miracles in the Bible as alleged superstition. This is nothing but unbelief mixed with religion and philosophy.

Others want to believe in all the miracles in the Bible, but when they hear reports of totally extraordinary miracles in our time, they react negatively, as if God was only allowed to work dramatic miracles in Bible times, but not today.

This makes no sense at all.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb 13:8 NIV

It is part of his nature to far exceed our limited natural expectations. The Scriptures are infallible, but our theology is always imperfect and limited.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Eph 3:20 NIV

A pastor died in a car accident in Africa. He visited hell because he harboured bitterness against his wife, but his wife did not give up and prayed hard for his recovery. Faithful Christians took the body to a meeting where Reinhard Bonnke preached. There was intense prayer, and the dead pastor came back to life.

“But that can't be real! It's not biblical!“

Yes it is! You can find amazing stories like this in the Bible, too.

”But it can't happen today!"

Why not! Because of the unbelief of conservative Christians who believe in Bible stories but don't want to believe in miracles in our time.

“But Bonnke was a false teacher.“ Why? Because he worked miracles like the apostles in the Bible?

”But you can't work miracles in our time like in the Bible!"
Who made up this rule? Certainly not God!

I know a woman who visited India in a dream and helped Christians with problems by giving them wise advice.

An English missionary in Thailand was caught in an ambush by Islamists. How did she escape? She became invisible. 

Many Christians understand that we are living in the end times. They recognise the prophecies that are being fulfilled through natural disasters and the restoration of Israel.

They attend prophetic conferences where they learn a lot about the alarming signs of the end times, but they don't want to believe that God wants to and is actually working amazing signs and wonders in our time.

This is completely illogical. It also contradicts God's wonderful nature.

Many pray for revival, but when God performs wonderful works that do not conform to their theological thinking, they reject God's answers to their own prayers.

Jesus warned of the unbelief in the last days.

And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?
I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Lk 18:7–8 NRSV

End Times. Alarm and Hope

 We see so many natural disasters today. Our survival on this troubled planet is precarious. So many conservative people, even Christians, refuse to recognise climate change. They condemn environmental activists. They call them left wing alarmists.

But why don’t these conservative Christians seriously read bible prophecies about increasing natural disasters in the last days before the return of Jesus?

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. Mt 24:7 NKJV

There have always been wars, famines, epidemics and earthquakes, so why does Jesus emphasise these things in His prophecy about the End Times? Clearly, Jesus is speaking of an alarming increase of disasters, including natural disasters.

I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. Acts 2:19–20 NIV

Nevertheless, in spite of alarming droughts, heatwaves, hurricanes, floods, terrible wars, horrible hi-tech weapons and genocides, God warns that the return of Jesus will come as a surprise to most people.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Mt 24:42 NIV

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night … 2 Pet 3:10 NKJV

But God has a plan to restore everything, to make everything healthy and beautiful again.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Rev 21:1 NKJV

Your life in this world is also temporary. We will not remain here forever. I am now 75 years old and I do not want to remain in this body forever. It is not nice to become old and frail.

But Jesus rose from the dead and promises us a completely new life if we trust in him.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25–26 NKJV

An Australian was waiting to die. He heard the terrible sound of the massive bush fire that was inevitably advancing. He was an atheist, but in the panic of despair, he pleaded for God's help.

Suddenly, the wind shifted direction. The man and all those with him were saved from death.

But the man was not only alive, he was no longer an atheist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Acts 2:20–21 NRSV

End Time Revival or Falling Away

 Falling away or revival? What is coming?

The end times have come. Israel is once again in Jewish hands, but besieged by enemies, just as in the prophetic writings.

In Europe, we have long seen the fall of Christian civilisation.

The French Revolution was not just a revolt against monarchy and aristocracy. It was a furious rebellion against the Catholic Church and against God himself.

The ideology of Voltaire and the anti-Christian philosophers in France also had a profound influence in other countries, including the Enlightenment in Germany and Switzerland.

Humanist philosophy and theology appeared in Germany. The Bible was no longer understood as the word of God. Everything was questioned.

Today, many Bible-believing Christians are indignant that their children are taught to reject traditional sexual morals and to believe all religions are equally valid.

Even among supposedly Bible-believing Christians, we find many who see sex before marriage as perfectly normal and don't want to wait for marriage themselves.

Many claim that this is the fulfilment of Jesus' prophecy, and they are right.

And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. Mt 24:12 NRSV

We see this fulfilled. This is the great falling away.

But then we hear a completely different message, that a great revival is coming and is already underway in many countries and regions of the world.

But that cannot be! The Word does not speak of revival, but of apostasy, and this is confirmed before our eyes every day.

But in China, Indonesia, South Korea, South America and all over Africa, tens of millions are turning to Jesus. We hear amazing stories of miraculous healings and even corpses being called back to life.

How can this be? Some see it all as a demonic counterfeit.

And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Mt 24:11 NLT

But the Bible also tells us that people from all nations, all tribes and all countries will come into God's kingdom.

And they sang a new song,  ... with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. Rev 5:9 NIV

How does this massive crowd of people from every nation come to Jesus?

Let's take an example.

But how do millions of Muslims all over the world come to Jesus in our time?

Millions of faithful Christians pray earnestly and fervently from the heart.
God answers these prayers and millions of Muslims experience visitations from Jesus in dreams and visions.

I met a Christian woman in Germany. She was a Muslim from Iran. Then she experienced a visitation from Jesus in a dream. Eight years later she converted to Jesus.

Countless Muslims see or experience miraculous healings. Not only Reinhard Bonnke, but many others have preached in Africa and released God's power for miraculous healings.

There are more Muslims in Indonesia than in Iran, Pakistan or Arab nations, but there are also millions of faithful Christians in Indonesia.

In Indonesia, Christian evangelists are allowed to preach, but they are not allowed to evangelise Muslims. Many sick people experience miraculous healings and Muslims come to be healed. As a result, many Muslims are converted to Christ, in Indonesia as well as in Africa.

Without evangelism with miraculous healings, countless Muslims would never be converted.

Faithful Christians love Muslims with kindness, prayer and practical help. I know this from personal experience.

Some Muslims are challenged to read the Bible for themselves and they are converted through God's Word.

God's kingdom does not only spread through method A, B, C or D.

It is about prayer, preaching, kindness, miraculous healings, practical help, reading the Bible, dreams and visions, evangelising through the internet and satellite TV, and, and, and, and ...

We must believe, love, pray, help, and not limit God.

God's Way Out of the Chaos

Without God in our life, we are ruled by our faulty human nature. God is all around us, controlling every atom and every molecule, but we are blind and deaf to the reality of our almighty loving creator.

We are like a ship at sea without reliable maps or compass, navigating by guesswork.
We have made such a mess of this planet. If we were not so bad, we would not need police or armies.

We have brought the planet to the brink of ruin with pollution and climate change. Political disputes are making it impossible to repair the damage.

But if God is really in control, why does he allow us to mess everything up?
When God created the first man and woman, he authorised them to rule the planet. 

 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Gen 1:27–28 NRSV

The man and woman were supposed to rule the world under the loving guidance of God, but when they mistrusted and disobeyed God, they embarked on a disastrous course of stubborn independence.

We know the popular song, “I did it my way.” It never worked without God. Some people have achieved great things this way, but in the end we all die, and what happens after that?

God loves you and he wants you to live with him for ever in his heavenly home.

The prospects for this planet without God are looking worse and worse every year, but God still loves every man, woman and child.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Jn 3:16–17 NRSV

If you give up your independence and put your life in God’s hands, Jesus will be your guide and your loving friend.

Wisdom from God in the End Times

 The stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Mk 13:25–26 NIV

Do you understand this prediction of Jesus that the stars of heaven will fall? Neither do I, but if we only believe in what we can understand, then we no longer believe in God, whose wisdom is much higher than our limited understanding.

Jesus says that he will come back from heaven bodily and visibly. If we don't want to believe this because it seems too strange, then we limit ourselves to our small human minds.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Is 55:8–9 NIV

In this time of crisis, many Christians want to hold on to familiar, conventional Bible teachings. We must not abandon our biblical faith, but when our conventional theology is inadequate to explain current events, we need to seek God's wisdom in the Bible.

It will not help if we only look to the Bible for confirmation of our favourite conspiracy theories, or if we only study with our human minds. Only the Holy Spirit can be a reliable guide in confusing times.

Will Jesus come again? He has promised so many times. But do you understand how, where and when he will appear?

We must seek wisdom from God and trust God Himself in our uncertainty.

Your Time Will Come

Have you been a believer for a long time? Do you read the wonderful promises of fruitfulness in the Bible? Are you fulfilled and satisfied, or is your Christian life just a religious routine?

Maybe you have already broken out of the religious routine, but you can't see any fruit. You love God and you have a close friendship with Jesus.

You want to win disciples for Jesus. You want to lay hands on the sick and see miraculous healings. Maybe you love Jesus, but you haven't received a miracle healing yet, even though you desperately need healing.

You love God and your trust in God is real and strong, but your hoped-for miracles are not appearing. And you need these miracles because you are disabled by illness, because your relatives are not yet believers, because you must wrestle with financial problems.

In the Gospel of Luke, we find an elderly woman who served God with a faithful heart for decades. She had prayed for children since her marriage, but she never had a single baby. Yet she never became bitter.

Had God abandoned her? Not at all. God had a marvellous plan. She was to experience a miracle, but without the long years of disappointment, God could not bring about this miracle.

Her husband Zechariah was a priest serving in the temple when an angel of the Lord appeared and shared an amazing message.

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. Lk 1:13 NIV

Elizabeth was to be the mother of John the Baptist, the great prophet who would announce the coming of God's Son.

Everywhere in this chaotic world there are faithful disciples of the Lord who are waiting for the second coming of Jesus. Some are well-known prophets, good pastors, or well-known evangelists, but there are also many unknown saints who are frustrated because their prayers seem to be unanswered.

Are you one of them? Take courage. God has not forgotten you. God has prepared a spiritual army that He will release in the great end-time revival. Hold on to your hope. Your time is coming.

I prayed for years and God healed my depression.
I prayed for years and God saved my parents on their deathbed.
I prayed for years and .... I am not disappointed.

“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. Is 54:1 NIV

Falling Away or End Time Revival?

 No matter how weak you feel right now, you can rely on God's strength.
God has brought you this far in his love. He wants to be your helper and friend for the whole of your life.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. Ps 23:6 NRSV

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Php 1:6 NLT

God has a very special plan for his people.

When we look around us, we no longer see a Christian civilisation. It is hard to see how God is in control of this world.

In families and nations that took the Christian faith for granted 100 years ago, we see all kinds of other worldviews and ways of thinking.

Many faithful Christians see an urgent need for revival, but others don't believe because they point to Bible passages that warn of apostasy.

Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another.
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. Mt 24:10–12 NRSV

The apostasy has long been underway in Western countries. Before the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, atheism was almost unknown. In formerly Christian countries, we see how biblical laws are increasingly being disregarded and abolished.

There are some Bible readers who claim, ‘So if apostasy prevails, we should not expect revival.’

But this is not the case. In this age of increasing unbelief, God has brought about the most amazing revivals of all time.

In 1727, a prayer movement began in Herrnhut, Germany. Under the leadership of Count von Zinzendorf, faithful Christians prayed around the clock for 100 years without ceasing.

The awakened Christians in Herrnhut sent missionaries all over the world.

It was through these missionaries that John Wesley came to a living faith. John and Charles Wesley became fires for Jesus. Their ministry transformed England.

The influence of Zinzendorf and Wesley reached North America, where amazing revivals emerged and shaped the whole culture.

In 20th century Russia, communist atheism became dominant, but they could not extinguish God's light. A persecuted underground church caught fire and a hidden revival was unstoppable.

The communists in China and the Muslims in Indonesia tried in vain to suppress powerful Christian revivals.

For 300 years we have seen apostasy and revival manifest simultaneously.

In the midst of the deepest darkness, God keeps producing new life in this difficult world. The devil wants to stifle God's life in you and around you, but God is still at work.

God is still the almighty God, the God of love and dramatic miracles.

The Egyptian Pharaoh wanted to exterminate the Hebrew babies, but Moses was saved by his own daughter.

Herod wanted to kill God's Son as an infant. All the babies in Bethlehem were slaughtered, but God had a plan for Jesus, and Herod could not overrule God's plan.

What does God want to say to you in this difficult time?

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Is 60:1–2 NRSV

End Time Miracles

 In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17 NRSV

When did this happen? ‘In the last days.’ What does that mean? In the last days of the ancient Jewish nation.

But this expression also has another meaning. We are now living in the last days just before the return of the Lord Jesus, the time when the last of all terrible world rulers will appear.

I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. Acts 2:19 NIV

Peter quotes the prophet Joel.

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:30–32 NIV

Some Reformed Christians believe that prophecy, signs and wonders were only for Bible times, but Martin Luther and John Knox communicated prophecies that were fulfilled.

In 1909, some conservative Christians in Berlin declared that the signs and wonders in the Charismatic movement came from below.

The Pharisees made exactly the same mistake when they declared the miracles of Jesus to be diabolical.

We see so many miracles in our time. I know a Christian in Germany whose young son played with his guardian angel.

I know a woman in Australia who visited heaven during an operation.

I spoke to a Persian woman in Germany who saw Jesus in a dream when she was a Muslim. Eight years later she converted to Jesus.

A woman I know very well escaped certain death by God saving her from a collision.

It was too late to brake. She could not avoid a collision. Then she felt a terrible heat. The vehicle drove through her car without making any noise, without causing any damage. It was like something out of a fantasy film.

The sensation of heat lasted for several days.

The extreme proliferation of signs and wonders in our time are a problem for many conservative Christians.

Not all stories are true and not all supernatural phenomena come from God.

We need to test revelations, but if we condemn all strange events as counterfeit, we will also reject the miracles of God.

Maybe you come from a conservative background. You find these dramatic testimonies dubious, but you're not sure.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Jas 1:5 NIV

Don't stay where you are. A true disciple is one who always wants to learn from God himself.

C. Peter Wagner was a conservative lecturer at a Bible school in America. He heard amazing testimonies of miracles in Argentina and Brazil.

He attended meetings where poor people received new teeth or gold fillings. He was then convinced that it was not a deception.

End Time Battles

 Moses was a man with a high calling. He was to lead his enslaved people out of the land of their oppression and through the desert. Then he was to take them into a beautiful country and conquer the land for God.

God's plans are always good, but when we walk in God's ways, we always encounter adversaries and obstacles.

The first problem for Moses came when he was born. Pharaoh wanted to kill all the male babies of the Hebrews, but God saved his life. Pharaoh's daughter found Moses and took pity on him. She adopted Moses and gave him back to his mother. What a miracle of God!

In these end times, we Christians have a great calling. Do you want to be part of a mighty end-time revival? Then you have an adversary who wants to stop you. God's kingdom is coming, but the devil wants to nip the end-time revival in the bud.

One of the enemy's tactics is to spread the negative teaching that we should only expect decay before the return of the Lord Jesus, that God is supposedly not planning a great revival.

But in the Bible I find God's prophetic promise that we should expect both darkness and glory.

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Is 60:1–2 NRSV

Does this only apply to the Jews? No.

Jesus commanded the apostles to set in motion a mission that is to increase until his return.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ... Mt 28:19 NRSV

We have not yet reached all nations. The Great Commission still applies. Just as with Moses, God's great plan will face terrible opposition.

Moses needed amazing supernatural miracles to overcome Pharaoh's resistance. Likewise, we need amazing miracles to overcome the devil's opposition in our time.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;  

they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mk 16:17–18 NRSV

Hope in Troubled Times

 The world is shaking. Everything is uncertain. First Covid, then Ukraine, now war in the Middle East.

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.

I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. Hag 2:6–7 NIV

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Is 60:1–2 NRSV

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the age of faith, it was the age of scepticism,
a season of light, a season of darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us”

Dickens, Charles. Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

The world of yesterday is never coming back. The world of today is a mess.
We wait, but we do not know what to expect.

The future will be different from the past, but we do not know what will come and when it will come. But wait with patience. In the deep darkness, God is not a passive bystander.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to look death in the face. He confronted the power of darkness with open eyes. He was executed by the enemy, that is, hanged by the SS, but he entered God's loving presence at that very moment.

He wrote the following words:

Wonderfully sheltered by good powers
Let us confidently await what may come
God is with us in the evening and in the morning
And certainly every new day. (Translated from German)

But these terrible last years before peace were like labour pains. Two new babies appeared. A new Germany, a civilised democratic country, and a new Israel, the restored homeland of the Jews.

This convulsion will continue. Covid did not come from God. We are experiencing cruel demonic attacks, but God still remains God. God is good and He is controlling this shaking to accomplish His will.

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Is 60:1–2 NRSV

I believe that the worst time will be the best time.

But the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Hab 2:14 NRSV

Countless millions will bow before Jesus. The long-awaited reformation will finally come to light.

Are You Ready for the Coming of Jesus?

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude 20–21 NIV

It is so important to build yourself up in your faith. So many of us are too dependent on others for our spiritual inspiration. This is a sign of spiritual immaturity, but many Christians have been this way for years.

It's not wrong to ask a pastor or evangelist to pray for you.

But the Bible speaks over and over about your faith, your prayer, your devotion.

These two verses talk about your holy faith.
This includes your holy faith, your prayer in the Holy Spirit, how you keep yourself in the love of God, how you prepare yourself for the return of the Lord Jesus.

This text is not only meant for the church, but also for each individual Christian.

• You must build up your holy faith.

• God wants to hear your prayers.

• You must keep yourself in the love of God.

I love events where the blessing of the Holy Spirit flows, and my faith is inspired by the faith of others.

But neither Jesus nor Paul ever described the Christian life as a series of blessed meetings.

• Are you ready to stand before Jesus when he returns?

• Will Jesus ask how often you have been to church?

• Will Jesus ask if you have always been a good member of a church?

A very active young member of the church felt frustrated because his busy life made it difficult to spend quality time with non-Christians and he realised that he was not reaching out to people who needed Jesus.

He arranged to spend some time with a friend who didn't know Jesus, but this meant missing one of the several weekly church meetings he normally attended. His absence was interpreted as unfaithfulness by his group leader.

Unfortunately, this pressure to conform to church expectations is not uncommon. This religious pressure creates a powerless Christianity.

If you are constantly trying to please other Christians, it affects your relationship with God.

Jesus said:

How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Jn 5:44 NIV 

In Matthew 13, Jesus explains how the gospel is like seed. He who believes is like a plant from the seed.

“The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. Mt 13:20–21 NASB95

In difficult times, many Christians withdraw from the faith. What determines your destiny is not your regular attendance at church or your ministry in the church.

How is your time with God in your bedroom? 

God Changes Everything

 When Jesus appeared in Israel, he was the saviour for many. Prostitutes were freed from their torment and shame. Lepers were healed and the blind were able to see again.

But through the presence of God's Son, many prominent leaders also failed.  

The official leaders of the Jewish religion were not interested in the Son of God. The self-righteous Pharisees and high priests were rejected by God. At the same time, God raised up a new leadership.

Scholarly rabbis and priests failed to recognise their Messiah and God appointed unknown fishermen as apostles.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, Lk 2:34 NIV

The official leaders of the Jewish religion had gone astray. God had to establish a new order.

When Jesus gave his life on the cross, religious leaders scoffed, but a Roman soldier believed.

Then God changed everything. Before the cross, non-Jews were allowed to come to God, but they had to submit to the laws that God gave through Moses. They had to become adopted Jews.

After the cross, non-Jews could be saved by putting their faith in Jesus. Jews could not be saved through Moses. They had to trust Jesus as the Son of God.

Before Jesus appeared, the Jews had expected their Messiah, but they could not imagine that God would transform everything so completely.

In recent years, many Christians have been praying for a mighty worldwide move of the Holy Spirit, but we can't imagine what God's new order will look like.

The mighty manifestation of the Holy Spirit in these last days will deeply shake the order in this world, but not only the order in the world, but also the traditional order in the Christian religion.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Eph 3:20 NLT

Are you hoping for a miraculous revival? God will work far beyond your wildest dreams, but God will also often intervene in a completely different way than you expect.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Is 55:8–9 NLT

Salvation and Healing go together

 Many Christians think it is better to focus on our eternal destiny rather than on miraculous healings.

Forgiveness of sins or healing from all diseases. Which is more important?

If a cancer patient believes in Jesus and dies anyway, he will go to heaven and enjoy eternal love, joy and peace. There is no sickness of any kind in heaven.

If a cancer patient is cured but does not believe in Jesus, he may remain healthy on earth for many years, but after his death he will suffer eternal distress separated from God's blessings.

Jesus himself said that it is better to die disabled but in faith than to go to hell physically healthy.

If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. Mt 18:8 NIV

So if you have a pornography addiction, you may have to give up the internet for a while.
If your job makes it impossible to work without sin, you need to find another job.

God's first priority is to save our souls, to save us from sin and condemnation. That's why God's eternal Son died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins. God is just, and no sin can go unpunished.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

But when we hear how Christians are doing missionary work in Asia and the Third World, we come up against a contradiction. Where many miraculous healings are taking place, countless people are turning to Christ. Churches are multiplying dramatically and discipleship is dynamic.

In the West, we see traditional Christianity in retreat. Whether the focus is on humanistic theology or reformed biblical teaching, we are not seeing dynamic growth.

Some Christians try to justify this sad state of affairs by pointing to passages in the Bible that indicate a falling away before the return of Jesus. But there are also passages that point to a great harvest.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Mt 24:14 NIV

How is the gospel being preached in the Third World today in Asia, Africa and South America? With signs and wonders, as in biblical times.

Conservative or Reformed churches focus on salvation rather than healing, and we see disappointing results. Humanistic churches emphasise theology, psychology, tradition, politics and good works. The world outside the church does not take this seriously.

In the Bible, we see something very different.

And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Ac 10:38 NLT

Healing and deliverance from sin go together in the Bible.

 … who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, Ps 103:3 NIV

The same God, in the same Bible, in the same verse, promises forgiveness of sins and healing from all diseases.

God Calls All Kinds of People

 In China, Christians are multiplying every year. Over twenty years ago, missionary experts said that there were at least one hundred million Christians in China and that several million Chinese were converting to Jesus every year.

Nobody knows how many Christians there are in China now, but the communist government is afraid of Jesus. The basis of the powerful Christian movement in China is not an ordained leadership with professional preachers who have to undergo years of theological training.

Most meetings are not held in well-equipped churches, but in private homes. Many pastors are arrested or simply disappear. Someone then has to lead.

More than seventy per cent of the church leaders in these house churches are women with no extensive theological training, but they burn with love for Jesus and their devotion is unlimited.

Education is not worthless. Paul and Luke were educated men. Martin Luther and John Wesley were educated, but Peter and John were fishermen.

In the mighty move of the Holy Spirit that is soon to come, educated preachers will also be anointed with power, but the mark of the coming revival will not be education, but heavenly love, miracle-working faith and unstinting devotion.

A woman in Brazil was the daughter and granddaughter of high-ranking witches. She became a prostitute and then a witch with terrifying demonic powers, but true Christians love their enemies. Christians prayed for this woman until she converted to Jesus in a traumatic crisis. She became a preacher who was able to reach many lost souls for Jesus.

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Mt 19:30 NIV

A highly respected Muslim preacher in Africa led a double life. He secretly visited prostitutes until he was infected with AIDS. The Christians prayed for their persecutor and God answered. On his deathbed, he experienced a visitation from Jesus. He was converted. He was supernaturally healed and then became an influential evangelist for Jesus.

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Mt 19:30 NIV

In the revival that is coming in Europe, God will call evangelists who are now in other religions or in pubs or brothels.

The apostle Paul said:

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Ti 1:15 NIV

The Gospel Includes Healing

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
 
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt 28:19–20 NIV

Was this assignment only for the first apostles? Not at all.

The first apostles did not reach the Japanese and they were never in America. The commission is to make disciples of all nations. This task is not yet complete. For example, there are millions of Hindus in northern India who know nothing about Jesus.

So we all still need to practise and pass on the commandments that Jesus taught his first apostles.

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. Mt 10:1 NIV

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,

and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Lk 9:1–2 NIV

Sadly, we see some Christians today who emphasise healings and miracles, but without humility and love.

Jesus was different. Jesus healed people because he loved them.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”
Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Mk 1:40–42 NIV

Jesus has called us to follow in his footsteps. Healing and miracles were not an option for Jesus. They were part of his way of being. That is our task too.

Do you need healing? Is someone in your family sick? Or in your office?

We need to learn to shake off the watered-down Christian faith we've been taught.

Jesus wants to do more for you than you think. Jesus wants to help you. He just loves you.

Jesus is Coming Back

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. Jn 1:6–8 CSB

We all know the story of John the Baptist in the Bible. He was a man sent by God. He proclaimed the message of salvation.

This message is still relevant. This world is shaking. We recognise that nothing is safe anymore. We need salvation from a better world.

Some are fascinated by fantasy films. There must be something out there.

And there really is something more, much more than we understand.

Religion has become dry and bland because the Bible has been reduced to a book of fairy tales or theology.

But people in the Bible really did see angels, and that still happens today.
Lazarus died and was in the grave for four days, and then Jesus came and raised him back to life.

An American preacher named Richard Sigmund was dead for 8 hours and came back. He told what he had experienced in heaven.

...I heard someone say, ‘He's been dead for hours.’
I sat up and replied: ‘I'm not dead yet.’
Someone from the medical staff screamed out loud. Another lost control of his bladder.
https://big-ideas-with-god.blogspot.com/2024/09/are-near-death-experiences-real.html

‘’But that can't be!

If it can't be, why are you wasting your time reading the Bible, where impossible miracles are presented as historical facts.

If God could perform seemingly impossible works in the Bible, why shouldn't he do the same today?

But perhaps you don't want to believe because it doesn't seem reasonable.

God is not at all impressed by our reasonable worldview.
Look around you. What kind of world has our reason created? Everything is shaking.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. John 1:6-7 CSB

There are people today who work miracles with the power of the Holy Spirit, like the apostles in the Bible. Like John, they declare that Jesus is coming, but this time not as a baby in a manger, but as the Lord from heaven.

But that is surely an old fairy tale. It can't be. We are modern and sensible now.

What kind of world has our modern rationality created?

How long can this planet continue to exist if Jesus does not come back?

Love Growing Cold

Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. Mt 24:12 CSB

Gang violence, terrorism, domestic violence, corruption in politics and business, brutal racism, gender confusion, chaotic sexual promiscuity, sadistic pornography, human trafficking, brutal dictatorships, aggressive military powers, wars and fear of war, live birth abortions.

Lawlessness is multiplying.

Mass media and the internet are making us more aware than ever of the horrors in the world.

It is so overwhelming, that we often shut off our emotions or seek escape in entertainment. 

On the other hand, we can get emotionally involved in this or that issue and we get tunnel vision. We cannot bare to face more than a narrow range of issues.

What is the result? Some people are enraged about abortion, but they don’t look at some of the problems that often lead to abortion.

Low wages, poverty, domestic violence, real estate speculation, unaffordable housing, homelessness and prostitution all produce unwanted pregnancies and women who can’t cope with more children.

When we are overwhelmed by the horrors in a world out of control, our emotions become numb or unbalanced and our love grows cold. If we care for unborn babies, but don’t care for the suffering of many pregnant women, it shows our love has grown cold.

If we are upset about corrupt trade unions, but ignore corruption in business boardrooms, it shows we have lost our ability to judge justly. When our love grows cold, our wisdom is corrupted. 

We may be aware of the Bible text about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Ga 5:22–23 CSB

When we become emotionally involved in the culture wars raging around us, it can lead to a loss of tender feelings, the feelings that are the fruit of the Spirit.

Instead, we see the works of the flesh, manifestations of the sinful nature, even in zealous Christians.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity,
idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, … Ga 5:19–20 CSB

We are seeing Christian leaders involved in culture wars but being exposed for secret sexual sins. 

We see zealous Christians engaging in moral self-righteousness, hating cultural, political or theological opponents, Christian factions furiously denouncing each other.

Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. Mt 24:12 CSB

Some American preachers are trying to redirect people to the Sermon on the Mount, to humility, empathy, love of enemies, but they are fighting a losing battle. So many Christians are absorbing culture wars every day on the internet.

When the pastor preaches humility and gentleness, he sometimes gets a hostile response from the culture warriors in his congregation.

Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. Mt 24:12 CSB

God's Future Plan for Israel

The Jews, in spite of everything, remain God's chosen people.

What does it mean that God has two peoples, the Jews and the Christians?
What does Jesus say?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16–18 NIV84

Jesus died on the cross to forgive all people and give them eternal life. But this gift is not unconditional. Each person must believe in Jesus and be willing to embrace a new life with God.

It is not enough to agree with the Bible's teachings. Nor is it enough to strive to live a virtuous life.

You and I are invited to experience a supernatural personal relationship with the eternal Son of God.

We are invited to be inwardly transformed by his Holy Spirit in communion with God himself.

It makes no difference whether you are Jewish or not. It is only a matter of trusting God through his Son, who is also the promised Messiah of the Jews.

Some then ask if the Jews as a people still have a role in God's plan.
Most Jews in Israel today do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. According to Jesus, they should not expect a heavenly home without faith in God's Son.

Are we still to recognise the modern Jewish nation as God's work and God's nation?
Has God Himself restored the Jewish nation in Israel in our time? And why?
Does this Jewish nation have a role in Bible prophecy?

In Revelation we find a mysterious prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled.

Revelation 7:3–8 NIV84
(A mighty angel said) “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

What do we learn from this text regarding God's future plans? It is puzzling. Many Bible teachers like to explain a simple theological system. Bible passages that do not fit into this system are ignored or superficially explained away.

We will not understand many prophetic Bible passages accurately in this life until they are fulfilled, but we must not therefore lightly throw them overboard.

Paul taught that the time will come when a whole Jewish nation will be visibly visited by Jesus and all the Jews who then see Jesus will repent, believe and be saved.

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. Romans 11:26 NIV84

Here it is not only Israel that is being spoken of, but the descendants of Jacob, that is, the Jews. Is Paul speaking here of all the Jews who converted to Jesus in all generations?

No.

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day, or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children. Isaiah 66:8 NIV84

In Isaiah and in other prophetic writings in the Old Testament, we see many Bible passages that tell of a future Jewish nation in Israel where the Messiah will rule Israel and the whole world.

There are theologians who understand these passages as symbolic, who teach that God is speaking of the Church.

I see no reason not to understand these prophecies literally. That is, clear prophecies of a future Jewish nation after the return of the Messiah.

In this matter, Luther and Calvin misled the Christian world.