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al terrorism and other social il ls,
Prince Philip yesterday suggested
that modern society was tolerating
' moral and behavioural s tandards of
a colony of monkeys.' "
Are these horrifying condit ions
prophesied to get better? And are
we goi ng to have a
true
religious
reawakening? Or are we going to
have merely an increase in religious
CONFUSION and CHAOS accompan–
ied by the greatest ou tbreak of
cri me, violence, corruption, lus t ,
madness and pbysical and spi r it ual
degeneracy in the entire history of
this earth ?
What Almlghty God Prophesles
Facing up to the real truth is often
a very sobering experience. And so
it is in the present case.
But if you want to understand
what is really going to take place,
you need to study and believe the
li terally dozens of scriptures in the
Bible that directly describe the reli–
gious future of our entire Western
civilizat ion. And it is important to
note that ALL these prophecies say
the same thing!
J esus Ch ris t set th e keynote
himself in his Olivet prophecy
when his disciples asked him what
would be the sign of his coming,
and the e nd of the age. J esus
answered , "Take heed that no man
deceive you. For many shall come
in my name, saying, 1 am Chr ist;
and shall deceive
many"
(Matt.
24:3-5) .
Notice that J esus said MANY–
not a few, but MANY- would come
" in his name." These men do NOT
come in their
own
name, but in the
name of
Christ!
In plain language,
then, they are so-called Christian
preachers- telling people
about
Christ. But they are evidently not
preaching his message, for J esus
went on to say that they "shall
OECEIVE
many."
Then J esus listed four more con–
ditions leading up to bis Second
Coming: wars, famines , pestilences,
and persecution on his servants.
Describing the latte r , J es us
C hris t said , " The n shal l they
deliver you up to be affiicted, and
shall kili you: and ye shall be hated
of a ll nations fo r my name's
sake.... And many false prophcts
shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound,
34
the !ove of many shall wax cold"
(verses 9 , 11 -12).
Here is a clear description of the
fact that
fa/se prophets
were to
arise soon after Christ's time. But
it also indicates that there will even
be an
increase
in these false proph–
ets right at the time of the end–
the time in which we NOW live!
And please notice that in every case
it is the MANY who are deceived–
not the few!
Even in what is commonly called
the "sermon on the Mount ," J esus
prophesied this same condi t ion. He
said , " Enter ye in at the s trait gate:
for wide is the gate, and broad is
the way, that leadeth to destruc–
tion, and many there be whicb go
Are we going to have a
true religious reawakening?
Or are we going to
have merely an increase
in religious confusion
and chaos .. .?
in thereat: because strai t is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which lead–
eth unto life, and few there be that
fi nd it" (Matt. 7:13-14).
Can we believe that Jesus Cbrist
really KNEW what he was talking
about?
Jesus coritinued this warning :
" Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye s hall kn ow them by their
fru its ..."(verses 15-16).
Here our Savior warncd that the
false prophets do not look like false
prophets, but rather like sheep. But
to really know how God regards
them, you have to look to their
fruits-the r esults- what they
bring forth just as a tree brings
forth or produces fr uits ei ther good
or bad.
Examine the Fruits of Rellglon
Look about you in sorne of our
Western nations. Have the peoples
of these nations learned the
way
to
peace? to happiness? to joy? What
are the real fruits that their religion
has produced in the lives of the
people?
Perhaps many of us have not
looked at it that way before. But
tbat is EXACTLY the way Almighty
God looks at it! J esus continues,
"Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth
the WILL of my Fatber which
is in heaven" (verse 21).
Throug hout t he O ld Tes ta–
ment-even from the t ime of Abra–
bam- God required men to OBEY
bis commandments in o rde r to
receive his blessings. All ten of the
Ten Commandments were in force
and effe.ct. But somehow, men rea–
son, this is no longer the Father's
will. Many argue that Jesus carne to
do away with God's law- to nail it
to his cross.
However, when a young man
carne to ask him how to inherit
e te rn a! life, J esus bimsel f an–
swered , " Why callest thou me
good? there is none good but one,
that is, God: but if thou wilt enter
into life, KEEP
the command–
ments"
(Matt. 19: 17). Then J esus
showed which commandments he
meant by naming sorne of the Ten
Commandments (verses 18-19).
Yet the popular doctrine today is
that these commandments have
somehow been done away so that we
no longer have to keep them. There
are many different brands of rea–
sonings and arguments used to
explain this idea.
Sorne claim that Jesus fulfilled
the commandments in such a way
that Christians no longer have to
keep them. Others say that the
commandments were " nailed to the
cross," and no longer binding. Still
other denominations teach that nine
of the commandments are s ti ll
binding, but that one was nailed to
the cross. And sorne groups even go
so far as to say that all 1
O
of God 's
commandments were nailed to the
cross, but that J esus somehow
brought back nine of them into
effect- thus leaving one of them
nai led up there!
What CONFUSION! What reason–
ing men wi ll use to get around obe–
dience to the spirituallaws that God
gave toman to keep him in the right
knowledge of his God, and to teach
him how to have joy and peace in his
relations with his fellowman!
The PLAIN TRUTH