Herbert W Armstrong

   We have gone through during the course of the 20th century events that have built to the point of setting the stage for the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible. So many of the prophecies of the Bible and of course, at least 25% of the Bible is prophecy, and the vast majority of that prophecy involves things that relate to our time and the times on immediately ahead of us, the times and the years that are coming up. We see in the world around us right now, we see a number of events going on.

   There have certainly been pressures that have been building in Europe, been pressures that have been building in the Middle East just a short time ago. During the course of a papal visit to the Middle East. In the aftermath of that visit, there was a very interesting picture that was on the front page of the Jerusalem Post that is sort of a harbinger of things to come.

   It showed a picture of the Pope, Pope John Paul, and standing in front of him with his head bowed, kissing his ring, was none other than Yasser Arafat. Now, the Pope was in the Middle East for ostensibly the purposes of a pilgrimage, but he has taken advantage of the situation to involve himself in the political situation going on in the Middle East, going on about the ultimate future status of Jerusalem.

   There are many, many things in the Bible that point to the fact that the Middle East is one of the crucial areas that is going to be at a focal point of Bible prophecy. Now, we're not the only ones that are interested in Bible prophecy, and it's not just an our time that Bible prophecies have been talked about and preached about. The Apostle Paul, many, many centuries ago, almost 2,000 years ago, in preaching to the congregations around the Mediterranean world, focused in on Bible prophecy, and he talked about the events that would culminate in the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.

   He had spent some time in Thessalonica, and while he was there, had discussed with them many things about Bible prophecy because the Apostle Paul came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And a part of that message was not only the fact that Jesus Christ came as the Savior, yes, he did, that he took upon himself the sins of the world, yes, he did, that he died for our sins, yes, he did, that he was resurrected and ascended into heaven, but also the fact that he's going to return to this earth in power and glory.

   Now, the Apostle Paul, in writing in the book of II Thessalonians, because he had preached about Prophecy when he was in Thessalonica. He had written about the subject in I Thessalonians and about the return of Jesus Christ. Now, there were misunderstandings that had built up.

   And you know, many times we sort of wonder, well, where are we exactly in Bible prophecy? Well, I'm going to show you exactly where we are. And I also want to focus our attention on what it is that you and I need to be deeply conscious of in our own lives as we see these prophecies of the Bible open up and be fulfilled.

   Now, the Apostle Paul, writing in II Thessalonians 2 (II Thessalonians 2:1), said, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means.

   For that day shall not come except. Now let's just stop there for a second and let's understand. The Apostle Paul clearly did not believe in, nor did he in any way teach, the doctrine.

   It's called the secret rapture. You know, the doctrine of the secret rapture is that Jesus could return at any moment. The Apostle Paul clearly says right here that Jesus Christ would not return at any moment.

   There were some who were shaken and thought that the day of Christ was at hand, that Christ might just come back any moment. Paul says, Let no man deceive you by any means. That day shall not come except.

   So there are things that must happen before Christ returns. Now, let's notice what actually sets in motion this final sequence of events. That day shall not come except there be or there come a falling away, an apostasy first.

   The word falling away, the two words falling away in English come from one word in the Greek, the Greek word apostasia means a departure from the truth, a falling from truth, a departure from truth. That day shall not come except first there come an apostasy and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he has God, sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

   Paul says, Now, don't you remember that when I was with you, I told you these things? Now you know that what withholds that he might be revealed in his time, that this individual, this final man of sin, is going to be revealed at the right time. God has a time frame.

   God has a time schedule. And you and I must never lose sight of the fact that God is right on schedule. You remember the last question the disciples asked, virtually the last question that they asked Jesus Christ before he ascended to heaven.

   It's recorded there in Acts chapter 1. And Jesus was standing on the Mount of Olives, and he was talking to his disciples, and just within a short time, was literally going to be caught up into the clouds. And the disciples asked him as they were standing there together, recorded in Acts 1, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

   Now, clearly, Jesus Christ had talked about the kingdom of God. In fact, we're told in Acts chapter 1 that he had spent these 40 days. After the resurrection, addressing the subject of the kingdom of God and instructing them about the kingdom of God.

   There was nothing Jesus Christ taught them about the kingdom of God, either during the three and a half years of his ministry or during the 40 days after the resurrection that in any way made them think that the kingdom was here now, that they were already in the kingdom, that there was not going to be a literal kingdom. No, Jesus Christ taught and preached about the establishment of the kingdom of God.

   And so they said, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And Christ said, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has reserved into his own power. You see, the Father is right on schedule.

   The Father has a time plan. And he has the times and the seasons all established. God has declared the end from the beginning.

   He knows what he's going to do, and he has a plan. Already mapped out as to how that's going to come about. Now, the Apostle Paul here in II Thessalonians 2 talks about an individual arising, appearing, this man of sin, as he's called.

   Now, there have been a lot of people who have speculated about this man of sin, and people have nominated different ones. Well, maybe it's so-and-so, maybe it's this fellow, maybe it's that guy. People have come up with all sorts of ideas.

   You know, some of the people that have been suggested as, quote, the man of sin are people who've already died? Well, it's very, very apparent as you read II Thessalonians 2 that this individual, this man of sin, there have been many men of sin, many individuals that could be termed a man of sin.

   In other words, an individual who taught iniquity, an individual who taught lawlessness, an individual who either practiced sin as a way of life, who taught disobedience to the law of God. Well, there are many individuals, many religious leaders down through time that could certainly be labeled as a man of sin.

   The Apostle John talked about the fact that there were many Antichrists. But the Scripture makes plain, Paul makes plain right here in II Thessalonians 2, he's not talking about just a man of sin, he is talking about that final individual that will be destroyed by Christ at his coming. That's what it mentions right down in verse 8 (II Thessalonians 2:8-9).

   Then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume. He's going to be destroyed by Jesus Christ at his return.

   An individual, we're told in verse 9, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. An individual who is going to work great, impressive miracles. The scripture labels them here as lying wonders.

   We could go back to Revelation 13 and we could read about a great religious leader who will do wonders and miracles in the sight of the beast, who will tell all that they should give their loyalty, their allegiance, their devotion to this final military political leader. He is labeled here, this religious leader is labeled as an individual who accomplishes what he does through the power of Satan, and he works great wonders.

   He works lying wonders. You know, Jesus Christ. Talked about in Matthew 24 and other places, talked about in Matthew 24, individuals or false prophets who would work miracles, who would work signs, wonders, things that were so impressive that if it were possible, it would seduce, it would deceive the very elect.

   Now, the Apostle Paul is talking about a particular wicked one. That final great man of sin, that final great religious leader called in the book of Revelation, the false prophet.

   The one who will be destroyed when Jesus Christ returns, the one who will work great, impressive miracles through the power of Satan. That individual is going to appear on the world scene. You know, it's sort of interesting.

   If you want to know where we are in Bible prophecy, I can show you exactly where we are in Bible prophecy. II Thessalonians 2:3, we're right at the comma, right at the comma.

   First, there comes a falling away. I'll tell you, we've speculated over the years. I can remember way back in the 60s, you know, about a great falling away.

   And a few people would leave, and somebody would go off over here, and somebody would go off over there, and we think, oh, maybe this is a great falling away. Well, those things have come and gone. We've gone through, in recent years in the Church of God, the most massive departure from truth, the most massive falling away that I can imagine occurring. You've got to be in the truth before you can fall from the truth. I think clearly the first half of this verse has occurred.

   A falling away, a great apostasy has occurred. Now, the next thing that is to occur is that final man of sin will be revealed, will be made manifest. That individual will emerge.

   Right now, things are holding back. You see, the Apostle Paul. Explained in verse 6 that there was something that was withholding.

   He said in verse 7, the mystery of iniquity does already work. You know, the mystery religion of lawlessness, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mystery of iniquity was already at work in the 50s A.D. when Paul wrote this.

   And that system was already beginning. And things continued along. And that which restrained would continue to restrain.

   Until this final individual would emerge out of the midst. That's perhaps the best translation, until he will come up out of the midst, until he will emerge. This system has been intact now for 19 and a half centuries.

   But there is a final individual, a final great religious leader, empowered by Satan to do great lying signs and wonders, who will emerge on the world scene. And that is, the event that will set in motion all sorts of things that are going to occur.

   Because after all, when Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter 6, when Jesus Christ opened the seals of the book of Revelation, when he opened up the book of Revelation, where did he start? Well, he opened the seven seals. Those seals sealed the entire book.

   When the first seal was opened, what did John see? He saw a writer on a white horse that rode forth, conquering and to conquer. This individual had a bow in his hand.

   Now, in Revelation 19, you read about Jesus Christ returning on a white horse, but Revelation 6 isn't talking about the return of Christ, it's talking about a false prophet. It's talking about one who comes as a false Christ, a false Messiah, one who masquerades. One who has the appearance of a lamb but is actually motivated.

   And he speaks with the voice of the dragon. The first seal is opened. You know, he has, when the living Christ returns, he has a sword.

   He has a sword which is the word of God. The false prophet pictured in Revelation 6 doesn't have a sword in his hand, he has a bow. The bow was the symbol of Nimrod, the mighty hunter.

   The individual pictured in Revelation chapter 6 is none other than the successor of Nimrod, the mighty hunter, the great false prophet that rides forth. The first seal is open when the first seal is open, the false prophet rides forth, followed by war, famine, disease, the great tribulation, the events of the heavenly signs, and then the seventh seal, which is the day of the Lord. And then we go through the matter of the seven trumpets that are blown during the course of the day of the Lord and the plagues of the day of the Lord that began to be poured out as God's wrath is poured upon this world, ultimately culminating in that seventh and final trumpet.

   Now, the time is going to come, and the event that is going to signal the, that will tell you exactly where we are in the sequence of Bible prophecy, is when this final individual emerges on the scene. Then you will know that the first seal has been opened, and the sequence has begun. We have seen the beginning of what Paul described in II Thessalonians 2:3. There has come a great massive departure from the truth. And there is going to emerge on the scene a great final man of sin, a great final wicked one, a great final false prophet whose power will come from Satan, who will work signs and lying wonders, and who will, by the things that take place, will deceive people all over the world.

   Will have a massive impact on humanity. And people will get caught up in great emotional fervor. And they will be so impressed with this individual, this great charismatic individual, and people will just get caught up all over.

   Now, as we see these things and we see these events that are spoken of, we realize how long will it be? Well, you and I don't know. If you've seen any of the footage of the Pope in his recent trips to the Middle East, perhaps you noticed, as I did, how increasingly frail he is.

   Clearly, he is a man who does not have a long time left on the world scene. How long that time is, none of us know. It could be measured in days or weeks or months or maybe even a year or two.

   It's hard to imagine that his particular time on the world scene is going to go on much longer than that. But, you know, we simply have to wait and see on that.

   Now, when he passes from the scene and someone else takes his place, will that be this final individual? We don't know. The next man, the man that takes his place, may simply be a placeholder.

   He may be an individual who serves a purpose and passes from the scene in a short time. We don't know exactly. But I'll tell you what, when this final individual does emerge on the world scene, when he comes up out of the midst, and when he begins to do the things that are described here, then you and I will know that the first of the seals has been opened and the sequence has begun.

   We're standing in a time that is a prelude to that final sequence. There have been false prophets and wars and famines and disease epidemics. There have been persecutions all the way down through time through the event, through the times since the time of the first century.

   There have been those times and there have been those events, but there is going to come an end time sequence that is going to unfold. Now, you and I look at these things and we understand that we're on the verge of the unfolding of the prophecies of the Bible. And brethren, we're in a time that is in some ways a little bit of a holding pattern right now.

   It is a time of transition. It's a time of preparation. When God's time comes, things will happen so rapidly that it will make our heads swim.

   You remember the events back in the fall of 1982? You remember the events later on in the fall of 1989? The fall of 1989 saw the fall of communist governments all over Eastern Europe.

   An amazing sequence of events occurred, spreading from Poland and East Germany on down through all of the communist governments there of Eastern Europe. When God's time came, the Iron Curtain collapsed and the post-World War II order in Europe simply passed from the scene, and we're in a time of transition as a new order in Europe is beginning to shape up.

   The point is, things can go along in a little Bit here and a little bit there, but basically things are just sort of going along. But when God's time comes, things can happen so rapidly that it will make our heads swim. Now, we see these things, and it's important for us to understand as we see the events on the world scene shaping up to bring about the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible.

   It is vital that we understand the implications of those things for us. As we come on back in the book of Revelation, to Revelation chapter 17, we read about this end time system called the beast. Revelation 17 describes a great scarlet-colored beast and a woman sitting on this beast.

   This great woman has a name written on her forehead that says, Mystery, Babylon the Great. This is Revelation 17:5. Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. This woman is drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus Christ. This woman is labeled a great whore, a great false religious system, an apostate religious system that dominates the beast, that seeks to ride the beast, this political military system.

   Now, it goes down and it describes the sequel here, and we come down to see, as it describes in Revelation 17:12, the ten horns, which represent ten kings, ten leaders that will give, as we're told in verse 13, their power and strength unto the beast. There is ultimately to come a time of crisis on the world scene, a time of crisis that will grip Europe, and there are going to be ten leaders that are going to collectively give up power to a great super leader.

   An individual who will be very suave and very sophisticated, and yet whom Scripture defines as a vile individual, an individual who, by flattery, who by subtlety, who by various crafty maneuvers is going to position himself and at a time of crisis will emerge as a super leader, a super dictator, and in alliance with this religion leader is going to dominate the world scene. But that's not the end of the story because what we're reading here in Revelation 17 talks about these ten leaders giving their power and their strength unto the beast.

   And ultimately, verse 14: these shall make war with the Lamb. Jesus Christ is going to return in power and glory. And these little puny human beings are going to think that somehow they can repel this invasion from outer space or whatever it is they label it. And so they're going to shoot their little puny rockets and their guns and the things that they have at the returning Christ. They're going to make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them.

   Absolutely. All of the things that they can do don't amount to a thimbleful when it comes to the power of God. The Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings.

   And they that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful. Now, brethren, I want to call your attention to verse 14 (Revelation 17:14).

   You know, the Apostle Paul describes that when the seventh trump blows, that the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then those of us that are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with him. From that time on, we will be with him.

   No longer some great period of separation. We will be with him. And he is going to put his feet on the Mount of Olives, and the mount is going to cleave in two. He's going to return to this earth to set up the kingdom of God on this earth. We'll be kings and priests, and we will rule with him on the earth.

   Just as it brings out in Revelation 5:10, back in Revelation 19 and 20. Now, when Christ returns, the dead in Christ will rise first. Those of us that are alive and remain will be caught up together with him.

   Here it describes, you see, Christ coming down here to the earth to destroy and stamp out that system. Who are those that are with him? Those that have risen up in the clouds to meet him? Are going to come down with him as his feet come down to this earth? Who are they? How are they described? They are called and chosen and faithful. Now, you know, the scripture talks about many are called and few are chosen.

   The word of God, the call, the message, has gone out and has impacted millions of people who are on the face of the earth right now have heard the message of God to some extent or another. There have been many that have heard a call to repentance.

   There have been, out of those many who have heard that call, a few who have been chosen. The word chosen and elect are the same word in the Greek. That's to be the elect are the chosen.

   That's all the word election means: those who have been chosen. When it talks about the fact of this great religious leader working signs and miracles that are so impressive that if it were possible, it would deceive the very elect, the very ones chosen of God, chosen of God to have their minds open to understand the truth of God, chosen of God to have an opportunity of being part of the first fruits of his plan.

   You see, it's not enough to hear the call. It's not enough to be chosen of God. You and I must remain faithful.

   Those who are with Christ are not simply those who are called. Not even those who have been called and chosen, but those who are called and chosen and faithful. We are going through a time of sorting and sifting.

   There's always been sorting and sifting going on, but we're in a time of great sorting and sifting that is in the aftermath. Of this massive departure from truth that Paul prophesied of in II Thessalonians 2. And there is a time of trial and testing.

   And, you know, God inspired Daniel to write about that back in Daniel chapter 11. And he talked about a time of, talked about various trials. Let's just notice back here in Daniel chapter 11 very briefly.

   In Daniel 11, It talks about the fact that in verse 32 (Daniel 11:32), let's pick it up. Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be corrupt by flatteries. There will be individuals who will be enticed through flattery, through smooth words, who will be corrupted because they're not faithful to the covenant with God.

   The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits all the way down through time, and how much more in the end time. Ultimately, the work of God, the work that God has for our Generation will be accomplished by those who know their God. Because you can't do the work unless you have spiritual strength.

   And the only ones who will be strong will be those who know their God, who really know God, not simply know about Him, not simply have heard about Him, or know certain doctrines, or have this point of truth or that point of truth, but those who know their God, who walk with God, who know Him and have a personal, deep, intimate relationship. With Him. Those who know their God shall be strong and will do exploits.

   They will do great things. They will be empowered by the Spirit of God to accomplish his work. Now, notice verse 33: They that understand among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity, by spoil.

   Many days. This is a summary of events down through the centuries, all the way down from the time of the first century all the way down, many days, and when they shall fall, they will be helped with a little help. Many shall cleave to them with flatteries.

   There may be times when there will be various hangers-on who are not truly spiritually a part of the church, but they're among the church, they cleave with flatteries. Verse 34, when they shall fall, they will be helped. Now, verse 35, some of them of understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it's yet for a time appointed.

   So, Daniel is making a prophecy that's going to come all the way down to our day, coming on down to the time of the end. Why is God going to allow various problems and difficulties? Why is He going to allow some to fall, some to be hurt, some to go through all of these problems?

   And you and I, you know, sometimes we get feeling sorry for ourselves and we think, oh, you know, we've got all these problems. Well, I don't know of any of us that have fallen by the sword, by flame, or by captivity. You know, we've had our difficulties, and we will have our difficulties, but God's people have faced many things down through time, and there have been some who have undergone horrendous persecution.

   God allows some of these things, He allows problems and trials and tests. He allows things to come on His people. Why?

   To try them, to purge them, to make them white. See, He allows these trials and these tests, these things that are going to come on the people of God, and it will come on the people of God.

   But, brethren, as these things come on, as we go through these events and the things that are occurring between now and the end of this age, see, why are some not going to remain faithful? Why? You know, it's not a matter of God, in effect, putting out a sign-up list, or we could go around in church and say, All right, now we, how many of you would like to remain faithful?

   Well, I would assume every hand goes up. You know, if everybody wants to be unfaithful, sign the list on the back table. Well, I don't think we'd get many signatures.

   That's not something people are anxious to volunteer for. And yet, we have seen by our own experience, not simply the words of the Bible, we've seen by our own experience that many have proven unfaithful to their calling.

   Many have not made their calling and election sure. How do you and I make our calling and election sure? We do so by remaining faithful.

   Now, there are different things that can happen that can come in as to why someone is not faithful to his calling. Back in the book of Titus, the Apostle Paul, well, let's notice in II Timothy, actually, let's go. There, II Timothy and chapter 4.

   In II Timothy 4, Paul is at the end of his life. He knows he's at the end of his life. And he's writing Timothy.

   He's in jail in Rome, and he's writing Timothy to come and visit him and bring certain things. Paul has some loose ends that he is to wrap up that God has shown him. He says in verse 6 of II Timothy 4 (II Timothy 4:6), I'm now ready to be offered. The time of my departure is at hand. I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I have kept the faith.

   Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing. Now do your diligence to come shortly unto me.

   Notice the statement in verse 10: For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed unto Thessalonica, and Crespens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. He tells him to take Mark and bring him, that he needs Mark to perform a particular service.

   Notice the statement here: Demas has forsaken me. Now, if you go back to the books of Colossians and Philemon, you read a little bit about Demas. Paul refers to Demas as my fellow laborer.

   Demas was a man who was called Paul a fellow laborer. He assisted. Paul. He traveled with Paul. During Paul's first Roman imprisonment, Demas was sent to carry out various functions. The Apostle Paul says he labored more abundantly than they all.

   He worked hard. He drove himself. You just go through and read the book of Acts and you read about the zeal and the drive that the Apostle Paul had.

   An individual, the men that he had working with him, the men that were traveling with him, were going here and going there and traveling over here and sent up to speak to this congregation and bring Paul back a report and then take a letter. Over there. Those were individuals who worked hard.

   If they weren't hard workers, they wouldn't have been around the Apostle Paul very long. They wouldn't have stayed with him. Demas was called, Paul referred to him in Colossians and Philemon, as my fellow laborer.

   So here was a man who was a minister of God. Here was a man who spent hours, who spent literally over a period of several years with the Apostle Paul, who labored with Paul, who went and talked and preached and did all sorts of things, and yet we come to a point where Paul says, Demas has forsaken me.

   Why? You see, Demas had been called and chosen, but he hadn't remained faithful. Why did Demas prove unfaithful?

   Why did he forsake the Apostle Paul? Paul says he loved this present world. Demas was filled ultimately deep down with the love of the world.

   He loved this world, he loved the things of the world. He was wrapped up and saw all of these things.

   And you see, looking at it from his perspective, everything was, quote, falling apart. Because when you come to the period of the mid and late 60s A.D., you realize that most of the leadership of the New Testament church died within a few years. The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus Christ, had been stoned to death in Jerusalem just a short time prior to this, maybe two or three years prior to this event.

   Many of the others had been executed. The church was undergoing persecution. The Apostle Paul was in jail in Rome under the death sentence.

   And he knew that this was it, and he didn't have long left. He understood that. And there were massive heresies that were beginning to build.

   The Apostle Jude, writing a short time prior to this, warned the membership: he said, You must earnestly contend for the faith once and for all delivered. Have to earnestly contend for the faith once and for all delivered because there were certain individuals crept in unawares, ungodly men, bringing in damnable heresies, horrible things that were taking place.

   The mystery of iniquity was already at work. And now, as Demas and others like him looked at the situation, it seemed that everything was, quote, falling apart. You see, ultimately, God gives us the opportunity to make manifest what is really in our heart.

   God wants to know who do we love, what do we love the most? And God will give us the opportunity to make evident where our affections are truly set. Demas loved this present world.

   The Apostle John, writing in the book of I John 2. He talked about the love of the world and what that is based upon. I John 2:15.

   The Apostle John says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world, and the world passes away.

   And the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God, abides forever. There's something which is permanent and real, and there's something which is transitory, it's illusory, it's something that will pass from the scene. It's not going to endure.

   This world, this system, this society, this culture is going to pass from the scene. Those whose affection and love is set upon it will not endure, will not remain faithful. God will give every one of us and has been giving every one of us.

   And will continue to give every one of us the opportunity to make evident to him where our affections are set. Here was Demas. He was a man that went along in a positive way for a long time.

   He was very much with it. He was right there helping the Apostle Paul and traveling and preaching and teaching and doing these things. But ultimately, the time came when he proved unfaithful.

   He forsook the Apostle Paul because he loved this present world. He never really got this world out of his system.

   The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Those are the values upon which this society is based. The values of materialism and vanity, the false values, the values that our society and our culture seeks to convey, and people get caught up in it.

   And our young people can get caught up in it, and our older people can get caught up in it. All of us. Are susceptible to getting caught up in it if we don't set our affection on the things that are above.

   Because you see, ultimately, it's where do we set our affections? The love of the world can entice and attract and cause people to be unfaithful because their affection is sent on the wrong thing. They love this world, this society, and they just can't quite turn loose of it.

   You know, you go back and you read the story of Lot and his family, one of the short verses of the Bible is the statement by Jesus: remember Lot's wife. Now, why? Think about Lot's wife.

   What is there to remember? Well, you go back to the story, and we're not told a whole lot about Lot's wife, except the fact that when Lot and his family, his wife and two of his daughters, were taken by the angel to be brought out of Sodom because God's judgment was going to be visited upon that city.

   The angel told Lot, and he told his family with him: don't look back. You know, leave this behind. God's going to destroy this perverted, wicked place.

   You turn your back on it and walk away. Go to a place where I will protect you. Lot and his family left.

   But what we're told of Lot's wife is that she looked back. And the clear implication of Scripture is that she looked back. Longingly.

   You see, she just could hardly bear to bring herself to walk away from that society. She loved Sodom. She just couldn't turn her back and walk away.

   How much do you and I love this present world? Can you turn your back on it and walk away? Jesus Christ said, remember Lot's wife.

   There are those who, because of the love of the world, will not simply be able to walk away when the time comes because loving this present world, they will look back longingly. Is this your world?

   Do you identify with this system, with its decadent values, with its false system and way of life? The love of the world will cause many to be unfaithful. Now, let me show you something else.

   Let's go to the book of Acts and let's notice a contrast in terms of a way of thinking. In Acts chapter 17, we read of the Apostle Paul teaching and preaching here in Thessalonica.

   And he reasoned, we're told in Acts 17:2, he reasoned three Sabbath days with them, reasoned with them out of the scriptures. Showing that Christ, that the Messiah, would have to suffer. He went back to verses in Isaiah and Daniel and other places, undoubtedly in the Psalms, and went through and showed these things.

   Well, there was persecution and difficulty stirred up, and the Apostle Paul had to leave. And Paul and Silas, we're told in verse 10, were sent away by night by the brethren unto Berea, which was a town nearby. And they came there to Berea.

   And went into the synagogue. Now, there was a difference between the Jews in Berea and the ones in Thessalonica. What we're told is that in Berea, these individuals searched, they received the word, verse 11, they received the word with all readiness of mind, and they searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.

   They began to check up and look and search and seek to understand. They had a humility that they could be taught. They didn't have a know-it-all mentality.

   They could be taught. And they began to search and prove. Well, as you come on town, Paul had to leave Berea, and in verse 16, Paul had come on to Athens.

   And when he came to Athens, his spirit was stirred up. He saw a city that was wholly given to idolatry. He came there, and there were idols all over the place.

   And the Apostle Paul had the opportunity of actually addressing a group on Mars Hill, the Aregopagus, a great center up there. We're told that there were many philosophers, verse 18 of the Epicureans and the Stoics, and they encountered him. And some said, Well, what will this babbler say?

   And others said, Well, he seems to be a setter forth of strange gods. So they brought him and they said, We want to invite you to come and speak to us. And they brought him there to Mars Hill, and quite a crowd gathered.

   We want to know about this new doctrine. You bring, verse 20, strange things to our ears. We would know what all these things mean.

   Now, why did they do that? Verse 21, for all the Athenians and the strangers that were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing. That's sort of interesting.

   You know, as you go through the book of Acts and through the rest of the New Testament, you know, Notice, you never read anything about some great church in Athens. Athens was a major city of the Roman Empire. It was a major city of Greece.

   You read about churches in little places like Berea, small towns, churches in Thessalonica, and a church in Philippi, and churches in Greek cities all over, even down in Corinth, noted for its immorality and many other things. But you don't read much about any church in Athens. There's no letter that Paul wrote back to the Athenians.

   He spent a short time in Athens and he spoke to quite a crowd, but the impression we're given is that there weren't a whole lot of people that responded, an individual here or there. Now, there were those that heard the message, but they were not particularly responsive.

   And the answer you see is given right here. They love nothing better than to hear or tell some new thing. Oh, they love to discuss religion, they like to argue.

   Greece prided itself on its intellectualism, on the academy. It prided itself on the philosophers, on its educational system. It was a center of learning.

   Athens was. Center of a great university, great schools of learning. And there were various schools of philosophers.

   But the problem was what we could call the Mars Hill mentality. They love nothing better than to hear her tell some new thing.

   Oh, they were never satisfied. You see, Paul talks about individuals who were ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Individuals who lacked stability in their lives, who were unable to simply prove out the truth, have the humility to learn and be corrected by it, to prove it out and remain faithful.

   The Mars Hill mentality couldn't remain faithful because, well, they love nothing better than to hear or tell some new thing. Now, if you love nothing better than to hear or tell some new thing, you soon become bored with the basics. And you begin searching.

   Well, you know, today the Mars Hill of today, I guess you could say the Mars Hill of today is the internet. There is every sort of strange doctrine set forth that you could imagine. You could spend weeks and months and years just searching out all strange doctrines because you never would get to the end of it because they keep adding new strange doctrines, new web pages, new ideas. It's continual. And they're those who have sort of a Mars Hill mentality.

   They're always looking for some new thing. They have itching ears. And they're looking for something that is new, something that is different.

   And so sort of similar to what we read right here in Acts chapter 17. You see, it stands in the way of an individual remaining faithful to the truth.

   Remaining faithful, called and chosen and faithful. Mr. Armstrong used to talk about the trunk of the tree.

   There are clearly a lot of people that didn't understand the analogy that he was drawing. But anybody who's ever grown up climbing trees ought to be able to understand what happens. You know, you climb a tree, and that's fine.

   What happens is you climb a tree and you begin to get out on a limb. Well, if you've ever climbed out on a limb, you know that you don't get out very far before you begin to feel a little bit of give in that limb. And it begins to sag just a bit.

   Now, you don't instantly fall out when it begins to sag. You can crawl out a little further. But the further out you go on the limb, you see, the smaller the limb becomes.

   And there comes a point where you'll fall out of the tree. Now, when he said you've got to stay close to the trunk of the tree, the limb is the thickest. Where it joins the trunk.

   It is the most sturdy. It's the most substantial. If you're climbing up and you place your foot right there where the limb joins the tree, that is the least likely spot where a limb would break.

   The further out, if you stand up on that limb, sort of balance yourself, and you start edging out toward the edge of it, at some point you're going to get out there and the limb is either going to snap, it's going to break, or it's going to bend so far that you'll simply fall out. So Mr. Armstrong talked about staying close to the trunk of the tree.

   He was talking about staying where you're not going to fall out, where you're not going to fall out of the tree. You see, he was talking about focusing in on what is important, the plan and purpose of God. Years ago, when we would counsel people for baptism, we would tell them, you know, have you really proven that God exists?

   Do you really know there's a real God, that God exists? Have you proven that the Bible is His Word? Do you really understand that the Bible is the Word of God?

   Have you proven where God's true church is. How do you prove that?

   Jesus Christ said, I'll build my church. The gates of hell, the gates of Hades, the grave won't prevail against it. It's not going to cease to exist.

   It's going to continue on down. How do you identify that church? Well, it'll have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

   It'll be keeping the commandments of God. It will be carrying out the commission that Jesus Christ gave to the church of going into all the world and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God as a witness. It will be ruled in governed by Christ in the structure that He has set up.

   And He explains that in Ephesians 4 and other places. We would go through that with people and teach them that these are things that are basic, that are fundamental. You see, we prove where the church was by proving who was teaching the basic truth of God, the way of God, the law of God, the whole plan and purpose.

   That God is working out. Well, there are those who have a Mars Hill mentality, and you and I, probably every one of us, have friends whom we've seen get caught up in this. And some have gone charging this direction and that direction in some other direction because they are spending their time or were spending their time in nothing else but to hear or tell some new thing.

   You know, that sort of intellectual vanity, that one. Was the defining characteristic of pagan Greek society, that of which Athens was the epitome, the height. That sort of intellectual vanity that characterized the city of Athens and the Greek culture that was centered there.

   That same intellectual vanity is something that is seducive, seductive to many people. They're those who are sucked away by a love of the world, they identify with a society. There are others that are sucked away that prove unfaithful because they have a Mars Hill mentality.

   You know, there are others who to whom God simply is not real. They may be religious, but back in John chapter 10, or rather John chapter 11, we have the account of the healing of Lazarus. Now, here was a remarkable event.

   Here was just an astounding thing that occurred. Here was a man that was dead and buried. And there were people all around that community.

   And this is the little community of Bethany, just a short distance from Jerusalem. Here were people all over that little community that knew the family of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. And they had known of Lazarus' illness, which lingered on at least for a period of days, maybe several weeks.

   And he got steadily worse and grew worse and finally died. And there were a number of people at the funeral, and they saw him buried.

   And now several days have passed, and Jesus Christ has come there to this community, this family that he knew and loved. And he comes out there, and there was quite a crowd around as they were there at the tomb. And Jesus gave instructions.

   He said, I want the tomb opened. And people sort of looked at one another, and one of the sisters said, Martha told him, as recorded in verse 39, he said, well, Lord, you don't want to open the tomb. He's been dead four days.

   You know, he stinks. You don't want to open the tomb. His body's already begun to decompose.

   We don't want to do that. See, they didn't understand fully what Jesus was going to do. They thought he just wanted to see his friend one more time.

   Jesus said, open the tomb. So he gave instructions. And they rolled back this stone that blocked the door.

   Jesus looked up and prayed to the Father, and then he said, Lazarus, come forth. And, you know, moments passed, perhaps a minute or so. People were staring here at this big black entrance into this burial cave.

   And the next thing they began to see was something began to emerge. And here was a fella all wrapped up like a mummy that appeared there in the door, and he could hardly move because his body was all wrapped up.

   You can just imagine, you know, people's eyes gawked out. They couldn't believe it. You know, just put yourself in the spot.

   Someone that you knew, maybe somebody in your community, a friend, a neighbor, perhaps a relative. He got sick, he died, you were there, you saw his dead body, you went to the funeral, you saw him buried. And now, here somebody comes and they're all gathered there at the cemetery, and he says, open the grave.

   Open the casket. Well, you're sort of horrified. Well, you don't want to do that.

   You can't just dig up somebody and open the grave. Open the grave. You imagine what people would do.

   All of a sudden, you open the casket, and the next thing you know, the fellow sits up and climbs out. An astounding event. People were just standing there gawking.

   Jesus said, Well, can't you see the poor fellow's all bound up? Go over there and loose his clothes. You've got to cut him loose so he can walk.

   Just an incredible event. But notice what happened in the aftermath. Now, we're told that there were many who believed as a result of this, verse 45 of John 11 (John 11:45-46).

   But some, verse 46, went their way to the Pharisees and told them the things that Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and they said, What are we going to do? This man does many miracles.

   If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him. And the Roman will come and take away both our place and our nation. Here was the most astounding of miracles.

   Now, Jesus had been preaching and teaching by this time for just over three years. And it had been actually the public miracles he had done in the Jerusalem area had begun not quite three years earlier. If you go back to John chapter 2, you find that Jesus came there to the temple just at the Passover season at the beginning of his ministry.

   He was baptized by John the Baptist. In the fall of 27 A.D., and six months later in the spring of 28, the first Passover of his ministry, Jesus Christ came there to the temple, just sort of showed up right before Passover, cleansed the temple, cast out the money changers. Then we're told in the end of John 2 that he taught and performed miracles there during the days of Unleavened Bread.

   And during that time, as John 3 goes on to tell us, one of the religious leaders, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin, came to Jesus privately by night and said, By we know that you're a teacher sent from God. No one can do what you do except God be with him. That was almost three years earlier.

   Jesus Christ had walked up and down the dusty roads of Judea and Samaria and Galilee and surrounding areas. He had taught and preached and performed miracle after miracle. And now here we are down in the late winter, just a little while, perhaps a couple of months prior to his final Passover, and he performs a tremendous miracle. The most impressive miracle that any of these had seen. He raised the dead.

   He said, Lazarus, come forth, and Lazarus got up and walked out of his grave. And what was the response? When the Pharisees and the chief priests heard it, what did they say?

   Now, these are religious men. They got a council together. Normally, the chief priests and the Pharisees didn't get along well at all.

   They were opposite factions, but they got together on this. They got together and they said, Look, we've got a problem. This man does many miracles.

   People have seen this, and the word is spreading like wildfire. And the result of this, if we let him alone, if we don't do something, everybody is going to be acknowledging him as the Messiah. Well, you think, well, that's good.

   No, you see, they said that's bad because the Romans are going to hear about it. And when the Romans hear that the Jews have a King, that the Jews are acknowledging a Messiah, well, the Romans don't like the idea of some, you know, saying you've got a King. Caesar's king.

   No, the Romans are going to hear about it. Next thing we're going to know, they're going to be showing up. We're going to have troops marching right down here through the midst of the city.

   They're going to take away our place and our place. Nation, we're going to lose everything. Lose everything?

   Well, wait a minute. If here is one who is exercising the power of God, what is the power of Rome by comparison to that? But you see, these religious men were impressed by what they saw.

   God was unreal to them. Well, they talked about God, they kept the Sabbath, they kept the holy days, they went through various rituals and ceremonies. They were religious folks.

   But when push came to shove, God seemed far off and remote and unreal. You could look up and you could see the Roman troops. You could see the sun glistening off the helmets and the spears and the shields.

   You could hear the clank and the stamp of the feet of the Roman army as they marched in unison down the cobbled streets of Judea and coming into Jerusalem. You could hear the clank of the chariot wheels and the clank of the horses' hooves on the cobblestones. You could see the Roman banners flying high.

   Could see the grandeur and the might and the pomp and the power of Rome. That was something that was tangible. You could see it.

   You could look at it. You could see this group of soldiers marching: the infantry and the cavalry, the charioteers. You could see all of these things, and that seemed so real and so powerful.

   And they looked at that and they said, if we don't do something, we're going to lose everything because the Romans will take it all away from us. You see, God was unreal, and so these people were religious, but they couldn't see how it would all work out.

   They were jealous, they were envious. You know, people can sometimes be overwhelmed and discouraged. God seems remote, He seems far off, He seems unreal.

   People become unfaithful because God seems unreal, and so they don't remain faithful to their calling. They may be called, they may be chosen, but they're not faithful.

   They don't remain faithful. They don't endure unto the end because God doesn't seem real. And they become scared.

   They become frightened. You know, it's interesting when you read back in the book of Revelation about those who will be in the New Jerusalem, in the city. And it then talks about those who will not be in the city, in the New Jerusalem.

   And it says that back in Revelation chapter 21, Revelation 21:7, it says, He that overcomes shall inherit all things. He that overcomes, the one who overcomes is the one who remains faithful. He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he'll be my son.

   But the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable. And it goes on to all these categories. First one it lists is the fearful.

   Why? Brethren, we all encounter fears. We all have times when we're frightened and life looks pretty overwhelming.

   The fearful are those who are controlled by their fears, and because they are, they refuse to follow where God leads. You know, when fear takes control, a person can either be paralyzed with fear and just sort of immobilized, or they can be panicked by fear and just go. Rushing off, sort of some irrational approach or decision.

   But the point is, the fear becomes the controlling thing. Now, if you go back to Israel of old, when they were brought up to the Jordan River, ready to come in and to inherit the promised land, what are we told? That generation did not enter in.

   Why not? Well, they sent the 12 spies into the land. The spies brought back and said, It's a wonderful place.

   It is a land flowing with milk and honey. But ten of them said, There are giants in the land, and we're like grasshoppers. And the people were fearful.

   You see, somehow the great God, the God that had overcome Egypt, the God that had opened the Red Sea, the God that was feeding them with manna by day, the God that had brought forth water out of the rock, the great God who thundered from Mount Sinai, the great God somehow seemed unreal and far off because they could see the giants. And the giants were real. The giants were big.

   Well, what they saw was the wrong thing. They got so focused on how big the giant was. They got so focused on how big and how powerful the giants were that they forgot about how big and how powerful God was.

   The Pharisees, the religious leaders, the Sadducees, religious folks, people who were caught up in religion and ceremony and custom and practice and all of the things of religion, yet God was unreal and God was far off. And when they were confronted with a crisis, they said, We've got to protect ourselves. We've got to look out after ourselves.

   We've got to get rid of this man. Because if we don't, the Romans are going to come in and they're going to take away everything. Well, couldn't the God that raised Lazarus from the dead, don't you think He could take care of the Romans?

   You know, there was a time when King Hezekiah was confronted by a huge host, the Assyrians. Army had under Sennacherib had Jerusalem surrounded. Hezekiah, they wrote Hezekiah this threatening, a sort of sarcastic, belittling letter, and they said, Why?

   You might as well surrender now. Have the gods of any of the nations round about been able to protect their people? There's nothing that can deliver you out of our hand.

   Hezekiah went in and we're told he spread the letter out before God and he said, Look what they say. He said, It's true. Hezekiah told God, He said, It's true that the gods of the nations have not been able to deliver them.

   Because the gods of the nations are not God. But you're the great God, the real God, the Creator God.

   The heaven is your throne, the earth is your footstool. You are the great, powerful, almighty God, the great God of hosts. And it's nothing for you.

   We're told that night God sent an angel and He wiped out the whole army. Next day, old Sennacherib got up and looked out. The whole place was littered with corpses.

   I sort of like the way it's rendered in the King James. It says that he gat back to Nineveh. And I think he probably went and gat and returned, all in close proximity to one another.

   You better believe. Can you imagine? You know, he wakes up in the morning and he's waiting for his servant to come in and bring him his robe or whatever it was, and nobody was there.

   And he's laying there and he's getting madder and madder. He hollers for the soldier, he yells out for his servant, nobody comes. Boy, he's getting madder and madder. He's really going to get that lazy servant. He's going to do so-and-so.

   Doesn't he know I'm the king? And so finally gets up out of bed and sort of storms through the door of the tent. And the soldier supposed to be guarding him is laying over dead.

   You know, you can imagine sort of a different look comes on Sennacherib's face. And he begins to yell for the soldiers, and nobody comes. And he looks out over the camp, and there is a deathly, eerie silence: 180,000 corpses.

   Well, I suspect the first fast horse he could get on, he got on him and he gat and returned to Nineveh. As quickly, he didn't let his coattail touch his back. He took off.

   He didn't know what had happened, but he knew that it wasn't good, and he got out of there. You see, that's the real God. There's nothing you and I are going to face in this life, no matter how big, no matter how threatening, no matter what it is, there's nothing you and I will ever face that is too big for God.

   Sometimes people become unfaithful because God becomes unreal and their problems loom so large that they feel like they've got to take it into their own hands. They either become discouraged or they develop their own strategy apart from what God says and do it their own way to protect themselves.

   The point is, God somehow is far off, He's unreal. Well, there are other things that can happen. You know, the Scripture warns us about the fact that there will come a time when many will hate one another and betray one another.

   Talks about people becoming offended. The Apostle Paul, writing in Hebrews, talked about, warned about a root of bitterness springing up, whereby many be defiled. You see, the love of God, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, enables us to love and to forgive and to serve and to help and to build one another regardless of what anyone has said or done. But that is a love that does not come naturally. There are those who've become unfaithful because they have become perhaps angry, perhaps hurt, perhaps embittered because of someone else's real or imagined actions.

   They have been offended. They have stumbled. They have let people get between them and God.

   And the love of God is not filling their heart and flowing out in actions and attitudes. And they turn aside from their calling. They lose sight of the precious calling.

   They don't remain faithful because they become focused on people. They become focused on hurts.

   They become focused on offenses. Matthew 24 warns us of this. Brethren, we are living in a time when the prophecies of the Bible are on the verge of all coming together.

   The white horse will ride and the red horse right behind him and the black horse and the pale horse. And a time of Jacob's trouble will emerge on the world scene and will plunge our nations into the most hellish time that has ever existed up until now. Great signs in the heavens will occur.

   And the day of God's wrath will begin. And ultimately, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be removed. The final trumpet blast will sound, and the dead in Christ will rise, and those of us that are alive and remain will be caught up together to meet Jesus Christ in the air.

   And we will sat down with him on the Mount of Olives. To smash the rebellious armies to establish and be part of the kingdom of God. Those who return with Jesus Christ, those who stand with Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives, are those who are called and chosen and faithful.

   We've heard the call. God has chosen us to understand. It is up to us to draw near to God to walk with God, to renounce the love of the world, to set our affection on the things that are above, to reject the intellectual vanity of the Mars Hill mentality, but to love the simple basic truth, the trunk of the tree, the basic plan and purpose of God, to be focused on what's important. To walk with God, to be filled deeply with the reality of the presence and power of God. To seek to God for the love of God to fill our hearts and our minds, to empower us to walk with our God, to really know our God.

   Those that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. We stand on the verge of the fulfillment of these verses. It's important that we be deeply conscious of what will enable us to remain faithful to our calling and election, to make our calling and election sure.

   To endure to the end. Because, brethren, he that shall come will come and will not tarry. He really will.

   And if we remain faithful, we will be, we can at the time when he establishes that great and glorious kingdom of God.