We who are watching an ever changing, dangerous world that is going faster and faster wonder where the future will lead us, and when will the end be of all things as prophecy indicates. I want you to take a moment and look at all the changes that have transpired in the last 100 years. If you took an adult who died in 1910, and he were alive today, I guarantee you, he would be astounded, totally amazed at all the changes in the world’s technological advances that have taken place. We have mastered flight with airplanes, even taking on outer space itself and putting a man on the moon. Satellites reach into far reaches of our galaxy and man thinks he can discover the origin of life. We have eradicated some diseases by developing new vaccines and medicines, but unfortunately, due to our sinful conditions in the population, some diseases are making a comeback. We have an information age that can send data around the globe in an instant, via the internet. Who knew when the telegraph and the telephone were invented, that we would be talking to people on the other side of the globe with computers?

It is said that every 3 years our knowledge base doubles from what it was. That is a rough estimate, but the point is that man’s ability to master his environment is moving faster than anyone can keep up with. Yet mankind with all his advances in knowledge is becoming more and more evil. Dangers loom that threaten to send the planet into another world war,  worse than the holocaust of World War II.

In this present hour, do you sometimes get tired and frustrated over the fact that man is going beyond what God intended for him to discover in his environment? Remember the story of the tower of Babel? When the people decided they were going to make a symbol of their power and disobey God, and not replenish the earth, rather were determined to stay in one place and build an object that would show they could master their world?  If you look at the story in your Bible, or even if you go to the internet, you can find the account  of Genesis chapter 11.

According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, participated in the building, called the Tower of Babel. The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens."

However, the Tower of Babel was not built for the worship and praise of  Jehovah, but was instead dedicated to the glory of man, to "make a name" for the builders: "And they said, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4). God came down to see what man was building and it’s written in scripture in Genesis :

11:5  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

11:6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

11:8  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.”

Men were capable of doing more than what God intended for them. They most often used their knowledge and skills for evil purposes, and nothing short of God's intervention could stop them. He determined to prevent them from destroying themselves in their lust for power.

Man now has the means and the power to destroy the earth many times over. Never before modern times has this been so. Man, since the fall of Adam, has had a sinful nature, and if left alone will not follow God. He will do “what is right in his own eye.” as quoted from Judges 21:25.

Jeremiah said in chapter 17:6 “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”

Like  it was in that period of ancient history, so it is now. Man’s mind is capable of great things, but his spiritual heart is apart from God and His direction for living. Therefore, man inevitably, by doing what is right in his own eyes, will fall into sin and follow the prince and power of the air, --Satan-- who stole humankind's inheritance in the Garden of Eden.   We are now in a parallel time of history that is repeating itself, just as these people did at the building of the tower, so we do now. As a people called the human race, we have gained knowledge and used it for good, but more than not, for unspeakable evil.

 The world spirals into a dark and foreboding era that will ultimately produce a level of evil that, Jesus said, will has never previously been a part of the human condition. The Lord said further that it will be a time of horror that will never occur again. Jesus said in Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

How will anyone be able to stand?

In Daniel 7, God foretells of a blasphemous end-time king who will, as it says in the King James Version, "wear out the saints of the Most High" (Daniel 7:25). While we do not yet appear to be in the midst of that prophecy, it is worth noting that even though this tactic of "wearing out" will be executed by a human ruler of the future, a spiritual power  will be the driving force behind that future king Revelation 13:2.

 “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon (meaning Satan) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Satan is ultimately behind the war against God's chosen people, and the prophecy in Daniel teaches us that one of his approaches is to try to wear out—to persecute, to exhaust, to afflict mentally—those with whom God is working.

If we stop and reflect on our own lives, we can easily see evidence of this satanic tactic already at work. We are all well acquainted with the busyness of life, and the hectic pace at which we are living as spoken of Daniel 12:4: “ But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.).

We are probably all familiar with what I mentioned earlier concerning our technological advances, with the fears, if not the realities, of not being able to make ends meet. Our digital age allows us to accomplish fantastic things quickly, yet it also requires us to stay on top of an expanding heap of information that threatens to suffocate us. All of this drains our energy and exhausts us.

In addition to the world spinning franticly around us, Satan also seeks to afflict us mentally by keeping things stirred up in our personal surroundings. He broadcasts anger, suspicion, accusation, loneliness, helplessness, worthlessness, futility, blasphemy and criticism in sinful man. He tempts even Christians to be defensive and mistrustful.

God generally keeps a hedge around us, as He did for Job  chapter 1, verse 10, “ Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.”  

I’m convinced that God does not allow Satan to touch us --His saints-- unless He gives permission to test us, to strengthen our faith and our devotion to God our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Satan resorts to other devices to try to get to us. He tries to distract us, deceive us, and weigh us down to wear us out so we will be discouraged, and question God. If He could do it,  the devil would throw away our inheritance our Lord has for us in His coming Kingdom.

I remember as a young boy, when danger was about, either a storm, tornado in the area, or any threat that could produce harm to our family, my mother would open the bible to one of my most favorite Psalms…chapter 91….In these verses of protection and divine intervention in a believer’s life, are words of comfort, of faith, of hope in a world that is turning upside down and gone mad. Let’s look at a few of His promises that reveals that we have nothing to fear.

91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

91:3  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

But note that you must dwell in the secret place of the most High…under His shadow, right up to His throne, in your prayer closet, and in your bible. We must not only read those words, but must put them into action.

91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

91:6  Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

No matter what may come --what we may see, by God’s Word we will not endure events of the Tribulation itself.  We may see environmental dangers, IE, the gulf spill, the increased hurricanes, tornados and every calamity that comes to man through nature that’s gone wild. Is it the beginning of God’s judgment on a sinful world? It just might well be, but we have nothing to fear.

91:8  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

How many times, have you experienced a time that you just knew that you or your family were in danger, either from natural means from the environment, or man-made calamities?  Somehow, some way, it was someone else that experienced the impact, maybe right across the street from you, or you escaped unharmed. Did you ever wonder why?

91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

91:14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

These wonderful verses emphasize that God is in control and He will protect each and everyone of His children during whatever may be out in front of us. But there is a catch, per se…again, read verse one of that passage. You have to be right up close to Almighty God. Not doing your own will, but His…not doing what the world is doing, but living the way Jesus, by example, showed us how to live. We cannot be lazy, weekend Christians and expect God’s protection. We cannot live like the devil on the weekdays, and repent in words only on Sunday, or Saturday, or whatever day you choose to worship God Almighty. To receive His favor, you must be conforming to the image of His Son, actively. Seeking, searching, praying, meditating, and putting His Words into your heart and carrying them out in your life, everyday, so that others may see Jesus in YOU.

We have that blessed hope in Jesus Christ, that when this world becomes even more dangerous than it is right now, then God will lead us into greener pastures, as David wrote in Psalm 23…If you are unfamiliar with that passage, then take a moment and read it and meditate on it and then reread Psalm 91….

Some fear the days approaching all around us. I do not and neither should any child of God…what you should be experiencing, is a sense of exhilaration, a sense of awe, of expectation, a sense of promise given by God to each and every one of us that call on Him as Abba, Father. Jesus said in Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 10.  

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

The tribulation hour is coming. Jacob’s troubles are on the prophetic horizon. No time in our modern history since WW2, has Israel been abandoned as she has now. The table is set, the time is growing close. The USA administration is the only thing --in terms of human protection-- that has kept the dogs and jackals at bay from Israel’s door, and now even it has begun pulling back. Great evil is forming just over the horizon. The evil ruler, the last king that is to come, the Antichrist, sits just off stage and will make his appearance, I expect, very soon.

This ruler indwelt with all the power of Satan himself, will wear out the saints. But is that the saints that are present this very hour? To make his entrance onto the world stage, something must happen to unleash all the evil that will come upon the world, as Jesus spoke of in Matthew in the beginning of this message. Turn with me to II Thessalonians, starting in verse 6;

2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed (the Antichrist), whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

There have been interpretations of what this passage means. Who or what is to be taken out of the way? What is holding back the full impact of evil on this earth? I believe it is God’s Holy Spirit and the presence of God’s people still on this planet. God has held back Satan from creating hell on earth for its inhabitants, because of His saints, the church. When the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, then God will allow Satan to unleash the full impact of his fury and to send this world into full blown Tribulation to wear out the tribulation saints. And God will unleash the full measure of His wrath on an unrepentant world.  Just as the Holy Spirit was sent on Pentecost to comfort, to counsel, to draw men unto Jesus Christ, our Lord, as Jesus said, “I will never leave or forsake you.” Hebrew 3:15. So if the Holy Spirit is being removed or pulled back, then we, as His children, will be leaving as well.

Yes, the world is a dangerous place and it’s getting even more so, as time draws down for the end of the age. Should we fear? Should we have a sense of urgency to reach others for Jesus Christ, undoubtedly, YES. Time is short and Jesus our Redeemer stands at the door ready to begin His Kingdom. Right now, He stands at the door of your heart. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20-21, “behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, I will come in unto him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

3:21  He who is overcoming -- I will give to him to sit with me in my throne, as I also did overcome and did sit down with my Father in His throne.

You have to hear His voice, the Holy Spirit calling, inviting you to His kingdom, inviting you to repent of your sins and make the Lord Jesus, Lord of your life. Accept His free invitation, His free gift. In your heart, confess that you are a sinner, Romans “3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Then believe in thy heart that Jesus died and was raised to glory and sits at the right hand of God our Father and will someday, soon return for you and for me…praise God….

May God Bless you and keep you all…. If there is anything I can help you with, or if I can pray with you, please email me at Realteam1999@sbcglobal.net