I have not yet written my post on today’s sermon. But Ron has already published a post he promised during the sermon. It is republished here to give you a chance to leave a comment about it.
As readers of this site know, May 27, 2012, is the time that I have stated as being the date Jesus Christ will return as King of kings over all government on this earth. For such an event to come to pass, the Trumpets of Revelation must all sound, the United States and dollar collapse, the ten nations of Europe arise to fulfill the final revival of the Holy Roman Empire, and Russia with China must unite against Europe in WWIII.
As an aside, readers of this site should also grasp that as far as prophecy is concerned, ten nations in Europe have already combined in association with one another to the degree that the mixture of clay and iron is fulfilled. All that remains is their entrance into a final war, a prophecy that can be fulfilled quickly, as this posting will cover.
How is it possible or even conceivable that all these things can happen in such a short time? And what if none of these events have occurred as late as five, four, or even three days before Jesus Christ is to return? Is it truly reasonable that Christ is coming on May 27th? No, it is not reasonable, not within the parameters of man’s thinking. When this date was given just over three and a half years ago, it was not reasonable to people then, and now it has simply become that much more unreasonable.
But as the last apostle in this age, and as God’s end-time prophet, I am still telling people that this is true and that a short-lived WWIII is now at our doorstep. Due to this strong conviction, the Church of God – PKG is putting all its resources into promoting this final message of Christ’s impending return in order to complete the “work” that God has given us to do. This “work” is nearly complete. As my previous post was written over two months ago, this may well prove to be my final one, since there are only four weeks remaining in this age.
When I began writing posts for this site, I initially envisioned the possible need of writing more often, primarily due to our preparing for the possibility of “great tribulation” beginning at the very start of this final three and one-half year period. However, great physical tribulation did not begin at that time, and it thankfully has not yet begun. So the need to write more often in order to help people deal with tribulation that could have begun early on has not been needed. But rather, in the midst of horrifying prophecies for this end-time, God has revealed in a most powerful manner one of His greatest attributes toward His creation—toward mankind. It is the awesome quality of “mercy”!
As the Church was fully ready to immediately enter into the period of “great physical tribulation,” or at the least, within six to nine months after this final period of three and one-half years began, God began to reveal His will for “how” this final end-time would unfold. It would be in a manner that would give (or allow for) the greatest possible potential to deliver the largest number of people into a new age upon Christ’s return. Therefore, God inspired His Church early on to enter a two-day fast in order to draw closer to God and then petition Him to provide the means whereby “more” people could be saved alive to live into the new millennial period. That means and manner whereby God would accomplish this was revealed to be through His love filled “mercy” for His creation.
What Seems Right
A fast approaching fixed date of May 27th for Christ’s return does not seem reasonable to people. It just does not seem right. Throughout time, those things that God has given to people in the form of prophecy and instruction just do not seem right to mankind. Human nature has always resisted the true ways of God.
To those who watched for decades as Noah and his family built a large ship, it wasn’t reasonable to people that this ship would ever be set adrift or that God would destroy the rest of mankind in an ensuing flood. All this seemed so far fetched that people simply ignored the possibility and even ridiculed Noah—all the way up until the very day when it began to rain.
It didn’t seem right that God would lead the Israelites out of Egypt to a place that would close them in before the Red Sea, with mountainous regions on each side. It did not seem the right “way” to be lead out of Egypt. Even Pharaoh and his army believed that the Israelites had entangled and trapped themselves there. Not even Moses could imagine how God would deliver them out of such a predicament. But at the last moment, as Pharaoh and his army approached, God opened a “way” through the Red Sea.
There are many examples of events in the lives of God’s people that did not seem reasonable to them and to those around them. Yet, God has always fulfilled His word and He brings to pass exactly what He reveals through His prophets. Most often He does so in a manner that cannot be readily seen or understood.
Those in the world and in the Church that was scattered who hear (or read) what I have said about the timing of Christ’s return and all the horrific end-time events that will precede it respond in similar manner—with utter disbelief. Oftentimes, the response is also mixed with ridicule, slander, anger, mockery, chiding, correction and a seemingly endless barrage of other negative human emotions regarding the “message.” God actually addresses this exact kind of response, for this exact moment in time, by a prophecy given through Ezekiel (Ez. 12).
Summarizing what God said, He begins by declaring that there are those who have had the ability to hear, but would not, and had eyes to see, but would not. He refers to these people as a rebellious people. The only ones who fit such a description are those who have been part of God’s own Church, those who have rebelled against Him and will not listen to Him as He speaks through His prophet.
God says He will scatter such people and they will be taken into captivity. This next part will make many mad and upset with me, but this is from God and not from me. This is speaking of the vast majority of the Church that was scattered after the apostasy. They have become so spiritually sluggish that they cannot and will not accept truth that God has given since the apostasy—truth that He has given to His end-time prophet.
The Church that was scattered will not accept the truth that there was an apostasy in God’s Church (2 Thes. 2), yet their very state of being scattered, and in much smaller numbers, testifies to this truth. They will not accept that after Mr. Armstrong’s death, the Church was thrust into the last era of Laodicea, and that at the time of the apostasy, the Church was spewed out of God’s mouth. They will not acknowledge the truth God spoke concerning each and every person in the Church at the time of the apostasy—that they had become lukewarm. Refusal to repent of not believing these basic truths led to even greater rebellion against God—with greater condemnation than being lukewarm and spiritually sluggish. Then the Church became filled with stubborn pride and would not accept the ones sent to it, with God’s very own message to deliver to it.
There is much more to this story that is now being covered in a new sermon series entitled, “God’s Witnesses.” This sermon also explains that God’s two end-time witnesses do not physically die before Christ’s return, but live up to the very day they are changed from mortal to immortal. This sermon is about God’s Church that became scattered. It is the last great message that God is giving about His Church and the two witnesses He sent to it.
As Ezekiel continues to describe God’s message to His scattered people and their response to what He has told them, God declares that there is an attitude of condemnation and disbelief that His scattered people are casting upon His message to them. God says this attitude is summed up in a saying or proverb that describes their aspersions. In one way or another, they critically convey this response to God: “These days (for Christ’s return) are not upon us, but are much farther away, for all that you have told us (prophecies) has failed (has not come to pass).” [Most translations from Hebrew are awkward, but this is the thrust of what God is addressing in Ez. 12:22-23.]
This perfectly describes how such people have responded to end-time events described in the book, 2008 – God’s Final Witness. Because great physical tribulation has not yet come upon the world, and the last six Trumpets have not yet sounded, such people have fully dismissed the message God has sent to them. These things are “still” going to happen, but because of God’s great mercy, mankind has not had to suffer throughout the past three and one-half years!
So God goes on to give His answer to their rebellion: “For I am the Eternal and now I will speak [with action], and the word that I shall speak shall [now] come to pass. Now those days will come upon you. Rebellious house, these words that I have spoken, I will now perform them, says the Lord Eternal” (Ez. 12:25). These words are for this exact moment in time. May 27th is fast approaching and God will perform what He has spoken through His prophets.
WWIII Closing In
The previous posting was entitled, “WWIII: The Stage Is Being Set.” This too seems fully unreasonable to the vast majority of mankind. To most, it is unthinkable that the world might soon be thrust into such a time when nuclear bombs will suddenly destroy over one-third of all the earth. Refusal to think that this is a reasonable scenario does not prevent it from becoming a reality.
There have been long periods of war and short periods of war everywhere on this earth, but there has never been as short a period of war with such great destruction as is almost upon us. The world has not witnessed a nuclear war. Mankind has only a very limited experience with using nuclear weapons, and that was during WWII. The two cities in Japan where these atomic weapons exploded caused horrific destruction.
The examples of Nagasaki and Hiroshima have nearly been erased from the mind of mankind. But these need to be remembered. Understanding what happened then can help you have a small glimpse into what is coming. The two weapons used on these cities were small compared to the weapons of today. Over 200,000 people died as a result of those two explosions back in 1945. So let’s consider what happened then and make a few comparisons to today’s nuclear arsenal.
The atomic bomb used on Hiroshima was equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT (15 kilotons) and that used on Nagasaki was equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT (21 kilotons). Grasping the magnitude and destructive power of such weapons is not easy. Yet the only real means to do so is through this limited experience that mankind has had with those two bombs. It is indeed unthinkable and unimaginable to consider the affects of the fiery inferno that a modern-day war can produce, yet it is wise if you stop to consider what is about to transpire in exactly such an event.
There are facts that need to be considered about modern-day nuclear weapons. The largest nuclear weapon tested by the United States was a 15 megaton bomb, and the largest tested by Russia was a 50 megaton bomb. The 15 megaton bomb tested by the U.S. was 1,000 times larger than the 15 kiloton bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Our ability to understand such a powerfully destructive device is nearly impossible.
Today, there is an estimated arsenal of 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world, which is enough to destroy the earth and every living thing on it many times over. That is the kind of world we live in today! Of these weapons, over 10 percent are on “High Alert,” meaning they are ready to be launched on a moments notice.
WWII lasted nearly six years with a death toll that is estimated to have reached 60,000,000 people. It is a horrifying truth that a 5 megaton weapon contains more explosive power than all the explosives used during WWII. What massive death could follow such an explosion in any large city of the world from simply one such nuclear device? The truth is, in one day humanity can erase itself from the earth. It is prophesied that when China and Russia enter WWIII that they themselves will destroy a third of the earth’s population. It doesn’t take a lot of time to fulfill end-time prophecy concerning world war.
Consider the destructive power carried by a single Trident Submarine. The U.S. currently has 14 such ballistic-missile submarines. Each submarine can carry 24 ballistic missiles. A single missile can carry eight 100 kiloton nuclear warheads. There are multiples of a 100 kiloton nuclear warhead and a 455 kiloton nuclear warhead that can be used on these ballistic missiles. It is reported that the number of kilotons deployed by the Trident fleet is 345,000 or 345 megatons of destructive power.
The small arsenal of this Trident fleet alone carries nearly 70 times the total explosive power used in all of WWII. People simply cannot imagine such power that can be unleashed on the world in less than an hour of time. What kind of death toll would follow if only the number of weapons equivalent to this fleets’ power were unleashed on the earth? It could easily erase over half of all life from the earth. We have only considered a very small percentage of all the nuclear weapons in the hands of mankind. All this should help give a clearer perspective of the times in which we live and the real potential for the literal annihilation of all life from the earth in less than an hour.
The world could not endure a nuclear war that would last for 3 ½ years. Long before such a period of time would elapse, mankind would not exist on earth. A nuclear war cannot last for three months, nor for three weeks. God, in all His mercy, is controlling the final time before He will allow mankind to begin such a war—a war of man’s own doing.
God’s timing is based on the day He has set for the return of His Son as world ruler. God will allow mankind to begin his final war, but He will also quickly stop it. The reason should be obvious! “Why” massive destruction from end-time events has not yet begun is due to the reality of how massive such a war will become as soon as it starts. Once a single nuclear device is detonated, and it will happen very soon now, who will refrain themselves from retaliating? Who will be the first to limit the response of their attack once the cycle begins?
It is because of such destructive power in the hands of mankind that God has shown that if He did not intervene quickly, once such a conflagration begins, mankind would destroy itself. That is exactly what God is going to do. He will cut short the war that man begins, and He will do so on May 27th, which is also the day Jesus Christ returns.
