- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
We are nearing the end of the days of the Church Age. We are very close to the end.
Some of you know this because you see your pastors grapple with issues and problems that they have never dealt with before in like frequency or content.
Some of you know this because you have eyes to see, and notice that wherever you are living has gotten so sinful, immoral, and crime ridden you wonder and marvel at the patience of our Holy God to tolerate it.
Some of you know that we are nearing the end because you listen to or read watchmen pastors like Hal Lindsey or JD Farag, or others who illuminate us as to the signs Jesus said to watch for.
Still others, like John MacArthur, use Romans 1 as the cultural and spiritual barometer.
Romans 1 is the chapter where Paul tells the church about the wrath of God revealed to immoral nations. It outlines the process of what, how, and when God judges a nation via His wrath of abandonment.
God has many different kinds of wrath, and none of them are the human wrath of uncontrolled anger or petulance. MacArthur lists the elements of God's wrath.
"There is eschatological wrath. That is the wrath that will fall on the earth at the end of human history in a time called the time of Tribulation. There is sowing and reaping wrath. That is the wrath of God that comes consequent on sin--whatever a man sows, he reaps. There is cataclysmic wrath. That is the wrath of God that He sets on man from miraculous use of the natural order, such as the Flood, or any other massive disaster that catapults souls into eternity. So there is that wrath of God which is eschatological and which is consequential and which is cataclysmic. And then there is that wrath of God which is eternal wrath, and that would be the wrath of God unleashed on the ungodly forever in the punishments of eternal hell."
"But the wrath that is being referred to in Romans 1 isn’t any of those. It is the wrath of abandonment."
And that is the wrath of Romans 1.
I have been listening to Dr MacArthur for a long time. I've listened to his sermons going back to 1969. I've listened to many in each decade of his ministry. I've listened to all of them regarding the end times. In all of them I notice two things. One is that he uses Romans 1 as his barometer of where the culture is in regards to the nearness of judgment. And the second is that he outright never says how close we are. He just preaches Romans 1 in his sermons and as a response to any Q&A sessions, plenary panels, or interviews and leaves it to the Christian to make that determination for themselves. It's always just teaching Romans 1 but never has he said how close we are.
Until now.
One can intuit by comparing the society to the Romans chapter how close we are. Romans goes from verse 1 to 32. During this month Dr MacArthur attended both sessions of the political conventions, Democratic and Republican. He returned home to southern California at the beginning of September and through the month of September he has been preaching three messages related to the culture. This is a departure for him anyway, he rarely preaches a message that is unrelated to a book of the bible and is culturally oriented.
But these messages are at root biblically oriented. He returned home shook up and amazed at how close we are to judgment. He is also heartbroken, you can hear it in his voice. For a pastor, I can't imagine the agonies of watching a society and all the people in it fall away from the offer of salvation and reject it at such a massive and global scale. If you are a good pastor, this breaks your heart, and Dr MacArthur is a good pastor.
We are at verse 32. The last verse in the outline of God's progressive wrath is now at the last word, the last period of that chapter. And in one of these three tremendously convicting and horrifying sermons, he said,
"I don’t know how much time America has left, I really don’t. But we’re on a course described here as God casting us out. The land has become defiled. “I’ve brought its punishment upon it,” verse 25, “so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.”"
I plead with you to listen to all three of the messages. You will receive a biblical overview of not only the coming election, which is helpful, but the times overall. You'll understand the depth of passion with which we must live for Jesus in these last days. You will see clearly and breathtakingly how far we have traveled down the road of wrath and how close we are to the end. I am sure of it. Dr MacArthur lays out the chapter so clearly and biblically, if you have one molecule of regenerated sanctification in you, you will see it too.
Here are the three messages, in order. They are each about 45 minutes long.
Thank you and God bless.
Abortion and the Campaign for Immorality
Homosexuality and the Campaign for Immorality
A Warning to Every Proud Ruler
Some of you know this because you see your pastors grapple with issues and problems that they have never dealt with before in like frequency or content.
Some of you know this because you have eyes to see, and notice that wherever you are living has gotten so sinful, immoral, and crime ridden you wonder and marvel at the patience of our Holy God to tolerate it.
Some of you know that we are nearing the end because you listen to or read watchmen pastors like Hal Lindsey or JD Farag, or others who illuminate us as to the signs Jesus said to watch for.
Still others, like John MacArthur, use Romans 1 as the cultural and spiritual barometer.
Romans 1 is the chapter where Paul tells the church about the wrath of God revealed to immoral nations. It outlines the process of what, how, and when God judges a nation via His wrath of abandonment.
God has many different kinds of wrath, and none of them are the human wrath of uncontrolled anger or petulance. MacArthur lists the elements of God's wrath.
"There is eschatological wrath. That is the wrath that will fall on the earth at the end of human history in a time called the time of Tribulation. There is sowing and reaping wrath. That is the wrath of God that comes consequent on sin--whatever a man sows, he reaps. There is cataclysmic wrath. That is the wrath of God that He sets on man from miraculous use of the natural order, such as the Flood, or any other massive disaster that catapults souls into eternity. So there is that wrath of God which is eschatological and which is consequential and which is cataclysmic. And then there is that wrath of God which is eternal wrath, and that would be the wrath of God unleashed on the ungodly forever in the punishments of eternal hell."
"But the wrath that is being referred to in Romans 1 isn’t any of those. It is the wrath of abandonment."
And that is the wrath of Romans 1.
I have been listening to Dr MacArthur for a long time. I've listened to his sermons going back to 1969. I've listened to many in each decade of his ministry. I've listened to all of them regarding the end times. In all of them I notice two things. One is that he uses Romans 1 as his barometer of where the culture is in regards to the nearness of judgment. And the second is that he outright never says how close we are. He just preaches Romans 1 in his sermons and as a response to any Q&A sessions, plenary panels, or interviews and leaves it to the Christian to make that determination for themselves. It's always just teaching Romans 1 but never has he said how close we are.
Until now.
One can intuit by comparing the society to the Romans chapter how close we are. Romans goes from verse 1 to 32. During this month Dr MacArthur attended both sessions of the political conventions, Democratic and Republican. He returned home to southern California at the beginning of September and through the month of September he has been preaching three messages related to the culture. This is a departure for him anyway, he rarely preaches a message that is unrelated to a book of the bible and is culturally oriented.
But these messages are at root biblically oriented. He returned home shook up and amazed at how close we are to judgment. He is also heartbroken, you can hear it in his voice. For a pastor, I can't imagine the agonies of watching a society and all the people in it fall away from the offer of salvation and reject it at such a massive and global scale. If you are a good pastor, this breaks your heart, and Dr MacArthur is a good pastor.
We are at verse 32. The last verse in the outline of God's progressive wrath is now at the last word, the last period of that chapter. And in one of these three tremendously convicting and horrifying sermons, he said,
"I don’t know how much time America has left, I really don’t. But we’re on a course described here as God casting us out. The land has become defiled. “I’ve brought its punishment upon it,” verse 25, “so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.”"
I plead with you to listen to all three of the messages. You will receive a biblical overview of not only the coming election, which is helpful, but the times overall. You'll understand the depth of passion with which we must live for Jesus in these last days. You will see clearly and breathtakingly how far we have traveled down the road of wrath and how close we are to the end. I am sure of it. Dr MacArthur lays out the chapter so clearly and biblically, if you have one molecule of regenerated sanctification in you, you will see it too.
Here are the three messages, in order. They are each about 45 minutes long.
Thank you and God bless.
Abortion and the Campaign for Immorality
Homosexuality and the Campaign for Immorality
A Warning to Every Proud Ruler
Comments
I listened through that series in the last week or so and I have to say he really struck a lot of chords in me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a homosexual, nor have I ever had anything to do with abortion, but those two particular segments of his teachings were really impacting in how clear they are in recognizing exactly where we are as a nation as well as how we've gotten here. Convicting and horrifying indeed.
I read your blog a lot and I'm glad I do; it's very sobering.
Thanks EP and God bless and keep us.
-Vincent
hi Elizabeth i like john MacArthur and have watched many of his sermons ,also like hal lindsey both great ministers of God ,i tune in to watch the hal lindsey report which is very informal in these last days, aswell as many other prophecy websites to keep up to date of what is going on with regards to bible prophecy ,back here in the england i have wittness over the last 5 years or so a dramatic decline more so than 10 years ago,our nation is turning and has turned away from biblical truth and Gods moral standards of living,i continue to wittness to family and friends as the lord leads because boy do really need a big wake up call because we are ever so close to our saviour returning in power and Glory even more so closer to the rapture of the church,i hope and pray that God will open the eyes of our leaders before its to late to turn this nation around back to God and back to his word and the moral standards that God gave us in the scriptures,God said that the last days would be just as it was in the days of noah i think we are in those days already as people just are not listing to the warnings that are being sounded out and sadly will continue to ignore the warnings as they are more concerned with there own lifes and the worldly pleasures,i honestly think that its going to take somthing on a majior scale from God to wake our nations up and just maybe the rapture of the church will be the wake up call for the world, God bless mark from the uk
ReplyDeleteIve seen all your warning sings, and well they are over blown and sensationalized
DeleteOkey dokey then. Thanks for weighing in. (PS: they are God's warning signs...not mine). If you ever have a question about anything end times related, or about the Gospel, please feel free to ask, at any time. :)
DeleteHi shane,
DeleteI'm glad you have eyes to see! Yes the decline has been horrific and rapid here too. It is so hard to see such rebellion in so many people, and to know that they need Jesus but continue to bat away His hand of salvation. I agree with you- I think the biggest sign of all to them will be the rapture.
Hi Vincent,
DeleteEzekiel was given his charge as a prophet, a scroll appeared before him and on both sides were pronouncements of doom. That was the message, all day, all the time. Doom. Isaiah was told to tell of judgment and when he asked for how long, God said until there is no one left to tell it to.
Sobering times they were, and sober men.
Now I am NOT a prophet but I do study the word carefully and I have the spiritual gifts related to it. My message is one also of doom, upon those who refuse to join the brethren in the church age by repenting and believing on Jesus name. And also to the brethren themselves who drift away and who take salvation for granted. It is a sobering message, and of course, it's not popular.
But I am glad you read, because I try to bring words, and concepts, and pleas to the marketplace of Christian ideas that so many pulpits are abandoning, as well as Christians themselves are abandoning. Sin, judgment, wrath, and hope of the Holy God are the words and concepts and they are just as true today as they were when Genesis 1 was penned.
I try to make this place an antidote to the frivolity and silliness that is much of Christianity today... because we will all have to give an account. 1 Thess 5:6 says "So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober." and Peter write, Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet 1:13.
A judgment message is sober, but the word is loving and it's living water the refreshes, but it is also a consuming fire and a hammer. When loving waters don't penetrate the rocky heart, well, here on this blog you get fire and hammer ;)
Thanks for reading.
noah was a righteous man and i wonder in the time he was building the ark how many times he would have warned the people of Gods judgement that was coming, i would say he would have been warning every day up untill it was the last min when God told noah to enter the ark noah and his family with the animals ,the signs we see today are the signs that Jesus himself gave so that we would know that his return was near,but the first major sign was ofcourse Israel returning to her own land as a nation ,jesus described the signs as birth pangs they will increase as the time draws nearer so we will have more earthquakes ,famine ,extreame weather ,diseases,war ,threat of war hense just look at the middle east on the verge of all out war, we have had world war 1 and 2 ,apostasy rising ,a one world goverment ,world religion ,and a world currency all these will make up the end time empire that jesus spoke of which would take place prior to his return so what is coming according to Gods word is going to be on a scale like nothing anyone has ever seen before in the history of the world ,so i would say that while there is time still before that last min when God calls his people home to seek God while he may be found call upon him while he is near because my friends the hour is getting late God bless
ReplyDeletebut there has always been apostasy, in fact isn there a lot less apostasty today than there was 1000 years ago? Since everybody back then who was Christian was Catholic, and according to your thinking all aposdsdates, and Today well not so much, as you have many protestants so you cant really use "rising apostasy" as a proof of the end times
DeleteMatthew 13 has the parable of the wheat and the tares, which is another example of apostasy among the believers. I am working on a blog entry about that now, and it will be posted in the morning.
DeleteSuffice to say, I cannot convince you that there is more apostasy now than before, if you choose not to believe it. I can only point you to the verses that say there will be and leave it to you to decide if is the latter days or not.
Apostates shall abound in the latter days:
Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
1 Timothy 4:1-3 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
2PE 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
2 PE 2:21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
2 PE 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.
JUD 1:5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
I have listened to all but one of his sermons, and they are so well said. Dr. John McArthur is so discerning in his teachings and I have come to enjoy listening to him. Many of our Pastors have fallen, and no longer are discerning. They entertain things that go directly against the word, when but maybe a couple of years ago they were very discerning, happy to preach the true word of God. We have to steel ourselves, bathing in the word and putting on our armour. I have eyes and I see, and ears to hear. We are in the season and I pray that we all repent and come to Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThank you Elizabeth for your timely and discerning articles. Your site has becoming a place I enjoy coming to very much.
Blessings,
Marrell
Anonymous, sooner or later you will learn that Catholicism is a religion, it is not the true faith in Jesus Christ, upon which CHRISTianity was founded. Do you see the word Christ in Catholicism, because I don't. Do you find the word Catholic anywhere in the bible, because I don't. Catholicism is man's creation, a combination of biblical truths, and non biblical truths. It has added in customs and beliefs, that aren't biblical. So, sorry, but Catholicism WASN'T the founding *church*. CHRISTianity, a belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, The Savior, Redeemer, in which we follow His commands, and all the other commands given from God, found in the bible, is the true faith. Elizabeth has written about Catholicism, detailing it's man created customs and beliefs, that aren't scriptural. How do you reconcile that? Do you read the bible, the holy bible? I know how that's frowned on in the Catholic religion.
ReplyDeleteThere is more apostasy now, because there are more people now than in ancient times, because of the modern advances that have helped more people survive birth, and to live into advanced ages, so due to the increase in population, more people have come to know the truth faith, Christianity, but sadly, many have fallen away from the true faith. They have abandoned it.
J.L.
Thanks for another good blog entry, and for sharing those informative links. My spirit grieves for those who reject the truth, who willfully disobey God, who have no remorse. This time is nothing, compared to eternity. They are so blinded. I wish I could make them see, so they would repent, and be saved. Sadly, I cannot. :(
ReplyDeleteJ.L.
It seems apostasy has reach incredible depths. There doesn't seem to be any church that is safe to go to anymore. They are using Beth Moore, Rick Warren and other emergent/contemplative books for Bible study instead of the Bible. Man is being elevated over Jesus Christ. Contemplative methods are pushed as a way to experience God. And people seem eager to use extra biblical methods to get a feeling, experience signs and wonders. We are told by evangelical leaders that we must incorporate spiritual formation (contemplative prayer) into our lives. I am stunned.
ReplyDeleteA very strange thing I've noticed - I've had friends be upset at first that their church was using Rick Warren or Beth Moore, but then after speaking to their pastor they turn around and then actually defend it's use. One friend told me that when he gets overwhelmed by the false teaching he thinks of the verse where Paul, when he was in jail, said that people were teaching with bad motives, but Christ WAS being taught. The church I left that was ecumenical and introducing contemplative prayer, the pastor defended it by saying, "As long as people are coming to Christ, that's all that matters."
And all I could think about was the many verses in the New Testament that warn of false teachers being ravening wolves and warnings of teachings of another gospel.
It's interesting you talk about Christians cursing and doing other strange things. I know of people that talk about how they pray, but then are cursing throughout their conversation. Others talk about Jesus and how wonderful he is on Facebook and then post dirty jokes and other coarse stories and pictures of Lady Gaga. It's kinda surreal at times.
Thanks for your posts. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed at what's going on, but I think of 1 Corinthians 1 saying He will keep you strong until the end.
i remember when i was a young boy going to church services that the preachers when they were preaching the gospel they would be thumping the pulpit and breaking out in a sweat but i tell you they cert put the fear of God in you ,today we dont have many old time preachers who really made you sit up and take notice of what Gods word said about salvation ,hell and judgment we have the social gospel or as i call it the easy gospel for iching ears that dont want to here about repenting of sins or going to an eternal hell or standing before God on judgment day to give an account of there lifes ,i thank God for all the watchmen we have out there that keep us informed of what is going on in the world concering bible prophecy and just how close we are to the rapture and second coming of our lord and saviour jesus christ as this world changes and turns more against true bible beleiveing christians we will feel more isolated,we have to hang on to the hope we have in christ with dear life because i beleive things will get lot harder before christ comes for his bride and yes christ will never leave us or forsake us and he will keep us strong untill the end . God bless
ReplyDeleteWell, ...no one knows the time or day. It could be tomorrow or 1000 years from now, but we are seeing America make a turn away from God and the Biblical principles that America was founded upon. We are being told right out lies from the media and we seeing over 50% of the American people choosing to believe the "lie". I don't profess to have any of the answers and on God's timetable this may be insufficient, but for me it is sad to see a great country like America turn away from God. I enjoy reading Biblical prophecy not to find out a date or time, but to know that in the end, we win!
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteI agree, it is really sad to see our great nation reject God to the extent is just did last week.
I also agree no one knows the day or hour. But we will know the season.
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness.” (1 Thess 5:4-5)
The Pharisees and Sadducees were chastised for *not* having the wit to have seen the signs. (Matthew 16:1-4)
We are told to look up, (Luke 21:28), and to be alert and sober. (1 Peter 4:7; 1 Thess 5:6)
As you said we should not try and determine the day or hour, like Harold Camping did, and many others, but we should look around us and note the times and its season.
One of the reasons for prophecy is exactly as you described, for comfort. (1 Thess 4:18)
Another reason is for belief, deepening our faith in Jesus. (John 14:29)
A yet third reason is not to find out the timetable but to honor Jesus with the commands he gave to be alert and on the lookout for His rapturous coming. :)
I am in mourning for America, but one good thing about the election is that perhaps more people will loosen their grip on our nation and instead reach for heaven, our true home.
I do LOVE J M - i was saved while attending his church in 1981 and appreciate his care with the scriptures. Thank you for posting this - i am new to your blog.
ReplyDeleteHi David, Thanks for stopping by. I love him too. I also enjoy listening to his executive pastor Phil Johnson who also preaches at the church, and Don Green, who used to but moved to plant a new church last year.
DeleteIt is amazing, I'll listen to a sermon from him from 1972 or from last week and his care and exegesis are equally impressive no matter the decade. He sure is steady, not succumbing to fads but simply...preaching! What a revolutionary thought!
Luke 21;25-25 man is calling it Climate change but that is the human trying to control humans. But in biblical accuracy it is those things that are happening to day. The Sun and moon and stars gave signs in 2014-2015
ReplyDeleteThe sun; the solar flares the MCLASS and the XCLASS solar flares that a propelled from the sun to the earth,at temperatures of 10,000 to 20,000 degrees F. and leaving behind a black sun spot on the sun October 24 2014 an Solar flare XCLASS 3.1 the size of Jupiter and they only are increasing.
Signs in the moon, there were 4 blood moons and supermoons supermoons were once call harvest moons but at that time knowledge to these events were limited, and they passed by those that were studying the scriptures, Like Schofield who said that the sun moon and stars and the shaking of the heavens were after the rapture of the church he died in 1921. He did not see what would happen in 2014-2015 Schofield was a dispensationist. In Job 9;5-6 it says In God's Anger He shakes the earth out of its place as he done in 1906 earthquake Chile 9.5 worst ever and again in 1960 Chile 9.5 then on 2004 Sumatra 9.3, 2010 Chile 8.8, and 2011 Japan 9.0 Making the Moon to draw closer to the earth. Those happenings resulted in tsunamis and shortening of the day and the earth came off its axis.
The Stars; January 2015 there was a constellation of Stars seen with the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere that scientist could only see with telescopes. and this year 2016 there is to be another sign on October 16 2016 a blood moon Genesis 1; 14 the sun moon and stars are for signs. distress of nations with perplexity,the sea and the waves roaring.
26 Men's heart failing them for fear and for looking what is coming to the earth Global economy collapse, the N.W.O., Globalization, population reduction
Summary These signs are at the begin What beginning? At the start when these thing are revealed And Luke 21; 25-28 are very significant to the "to be caught up" of 1st Thessalonians 4; 17
I believe that the heaven shall be shaken, with His voice Hebrews 12;26 and Christ will come with power and great glory
28 And when these thing BEGIN to come to pass, LOOK UP LIFT UP YOUR HEADS your redemption draws nigh.
KEEP WATCH CHURCH are you ready?