We need to face things that are coming to pass upon the earth without being fearful. We find some of the greatest parables of Christ in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. One of the principal parables is that of the sower and seed, or better termed, “the various kinds of soil.” The seed is the Word of God, which is sown, and the various kinds of soil receive that seed in different ways with different results. The lesson in this parable is one of the greatest warnings for Christians who are going to live through the next few years. When the Word falls upon people’s hearts, the worry of this age and the deceitfulness of riches tend to choke the Word so that it becomes unfruitful. There is nothing which can calm the fears, the cares, the anxieties of the world right now. Christians themselves find it difficult not to give way to worry and concern about the future. We must always be alert to the possible events that will happen with such rapidity in the days just ahead.
As we see various troubles come upon the earth, we must not be fearful. To the contrary, we must be concerned that the worries of this age do not choke out the Word of God. There must be a willingness to do everything possible to be alert to the times and seasons, for God does not intend for us to put our heads in the sand like an ostrich and ignore the times and the conditions upon the earth. But neither does God want these things to choke out the Word until we are no longer listening to His truth and following it.
When everything is going well, we insist that we will trust the Lord. But then when things do not go smoothly, we begin worrying as if we did not trust Him; and too often we think we must take things into our own hands. We become filled with terror and decide to take care of the problem in the best way we can. The Bible predicts that in these days men’s hearts will be failing them for fear and for looking after the things that are coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Luke 21:26).
We are not going to walk in fear, nor will we be motivated by fear. We will be motivated by a faith and trust in God and be ready to help anyone we can. This age must come to an end, and the Kingdom of God must come. Everything that transpires in the world system in the next few years will be direct steps toward the end of the old order as we have known it.
Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (Luke 21:24). This is a most significant prophecy. In 70 A.D., within that generation, Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed. Not one stone was left standing upon another, just as Jesus had predicted. Ever since then Jerusalem has been in the hands of the Gentiles. Between 1100 and 1300 A.D., crusades were made attempting to take Jerusalem out of the hands of the Moslems, but these failed. During World War I, when General Allansby released Jerusalem, it was still not put back into the hands of the Jews; it was then under the British government. Only recently has the Israeli government succeeded in getting all Jerusalem and thus fulfilling for the first time Christ’s prediction. Once again Jerusalem is out of the hands of the Gentiles and in the hands of the Jewish people. The times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
According to Christ’s prophecy when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, we know that the Kingdom of God is at hand (Luke 21:24, 31). This is a very significant prophecy, for it is the only prophecy that seems to have a definite timetable. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Even if it takes a generation to come forth, it is good to know what is coming. Are we setting a date for doomsday? No, we intend to walk right into the Kingdom. One age will end with a moan and a sigh, and a new age will come in with the singing of the sons of God. The old order of things is passing away, and the Kingdom of God is coming forth in the hearts of God’s people.
We are in a transition period. As we shift into high gear we must move into a greater efficiency in all areas. “Business as usual” will be utterly impossible. Survival will become a major concern of more than a few who are enlightened in that area. The greatest crash in the history of the world economy is just ahead of us. It is very important that we do what we can to be prepared for these disasters. Saving our money is not the answer, for it will be valueless. The devaluation of the dollar will continue. It is ominous, yet we should feel no sense of defeat. Instead, we feel a victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. Step by step, by the wisdom of the Lord, we will be able to lay before God’s people the necessary things to do in order to be prepared for this time of transition and change.
There are signs of the coming famine, but not many seem to be paying much attention. Scarcity is becoming common in a broad spectrum of consumer items. There have been incidents of people destroying food. It appears they are satanically inspired to produce a famine in a land of plenty. There are many things leading to a subordination of the public to the will of the government and to big business. We are heading into many changes, and it is very important that we learn how to survive and take care of our children. God’s people could easily be prepared for the time of trouble that is coming on the earth. Many churches are buying farms and starting to store grain. This is only a little token in the wind. We need to buy more farms to raise food. I wish we could move faster in these projects. I wish we had the money to put up warehouses to store food. This is being done by some of the denominations. They recognize that there will be a time of disaster, and they want to be ready.
It behooves us to realize that many things will have no value at all in the days ahead. It is questionable whether real estate will be very valuable in areas which are now overdeveloped and do not have the industry or available employment to support the number of people in that area. Our country is entering into a wave of isolationism which means Communism will have free reign on the international scene to move in and swallow up country after country. This isolationism trend means we have to gauge ourselves accordingly. We will be in a dangerous situation for some time. There will be cutbacks in the military and aviation industries, as well as others; and on the local level, we must use wisdom in seeking jobs that will aid in survival in this transitional period.
Barring war or missiles or anything of that nature, stop to think of the disaster that would result from just a medium-sized earthquake. This could be especially disastrous in large cities. Suppose several freeways were so damaged that trucks could not get in with food, or suppose food could be brought in, but the gas mains and power lines were broken. Do you have a way of cooking food without using gas or electricity? Do you have a source of water besides that which comes from the faucet? In cases where water service has been disrupted, there have been instances of stampedes at the markets as people grab all the bottled water they can find. There will be many such incidents in this country in the future. Be prepared for it, and do not say it will never happen. Things will get a little rougher and then will get rougher still, bringing periods of terror and fear upon the earth. All these things are the beginning of the signs.
Should we run from these things? No, the Lord said, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13); and that is what we will do. We have much to do. It is true, we might lose our money. We may even be led to make bad investments (in view of the future), but we are not seeking to have a few dollars when the Kingdom comes; we simply want to survive so that we can proclaim the Word and see the Kingdom come forth.
What should we do to survive the coming days? Some churches are purchasing land where their entire congregation can be fed in an emergency. In other areas where land is cheap, lists of parcels of land on which people could survive in case of disaster are being made. Some churches are buying and storing important survival items. Information concerning various methods and means of storing food and water is being accumulated and placed in the people’s hands. We realize the golden age of plenty is fast disappearing. The coming days will be very difficult.
While there is a trace of prosperity the money ought to be loosed to do the will of God. We should explore the areas of hydro-culture, of fish farming, and of production of animals such as the beefalo. We must be involved with such revolutionary innovations because the economy and the commercial system is going to change rapidly. We must be open to those who have knowledge of natural diets, vitamins, herbs, and medications. Every church should be stockpiling certain items which could be used during periods of emergency to provide food, energy, and shelter for its people. Open your heart to the sacrificial demands that are ahead of you. What if disaster does not come? Then we will all stand and shout together. But it will happen! A time is coming when people will see change, but they will cling to what has been and even go back to it no matter how difficult it is.
We are doing the will of God in an assault to take the beachhead. In war, hundreds of soldiers may fall and die, but often their bodies form a ladder over which others can scale the walls and take the territory. That is the way we must feel about this battle. If we are expendable, that is all right. We do not love our lives unto death (Revelation 12:11). If any of our ventures fail, we will still praise the Lord; all that we do is done to the glory of God. Many people have lost their fortunes for selfish gain and for base motivations. We are working for a much greater cause; we are laying everything on the line to see results that will glorify God.
Through a great miracle, the children of Israel were brought out of slavery to wander in the wilderness as free people. They were not only free; they were guided and led by God. But they soon began to miss the flesh pots—the rotten meat the Egyptians threw to the slaves, which was so highly spiced they could not taste its corruption (Exodus 16:3). They began to miss the leeks, the melons, the garlic, the onions. They wanted to go back to that.
People are always trying to run away from freedom and change. They run away from that which God has for them. They want to pick their own leader to take them back into captivity. They are as the Israelites who said, “We are going back, Moses. We are ready to stone you for the way you are leading us. What do you mean by telling us that you are leading us to a land that flows with milk and honey? This is a pile of rocks. What do you mean by trying to change our lives and change our thinking? It would have been better if we had died in Egypt. At least there would have been a burial place for us” (Numbers 14). Many of those Israelites had seen their comrades die under the lash of an Egyptian whip.
Would you rather die as a slave than take the wilderness road to the promised land? You can go back to Babylon and its comforts if you want to, or you can gear your mind to the fact that you are walking out with God into a new territory. You are to think differently. You are going to be different, and you will be persecuted. People will tell you that you are going the wrong way, but you are not. You are following the Lord. This walk with God is the healthiest move I have seen in this generation. It has not been afflicted with the dry rot which has invaded most of Christianity. It has enabled us to turn away from mental ruts and responses. The whole world is being geared to respond a certain way when the antichrist cracks his whip. But we will not do that! We are opening our hearts to the new day!
The time will come when there will be a mark on men’s foreheads and no man shall buy or sell unless he has that mark. It will be the mark of Satan, the mark of the beast spoken of in Revelation 13:16, 17. We will get through that time with the help of God, but we must make haste to prepare. Even some sections of Babylon have made provisions for the times of trouble, but that does not mean they will miss the tribulation. They have already taken the mark of the beast and committed fornication with the kings of the earth with their investments in Babylon. When that comes down, their food will not mean much to them. We have to build according to another pattern and make a way to go on into a new age. It is most urgent that some action be taken. We need to fast and pray and wait upon the Lord to learn how He would have us go ahead. We do not know which way to go, but we do know that we must be led by the Spirit of the Lord or we will just be a part of a system that will be destroyed.
The days before us hold the opportunity for us to speak the Word of the Lord. Who knows how many millions of people will be moved? Joel prophesied of this time and told both of tribulation and of the promise of deliverance. Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32). We have that message of deliverance! In the remnant whom the Lord shall call—within just a few people—will be the answer. Do we dare to be part of that minority? Do we dare to have God entrust us with the answers for the whole world, the gospel of the Kingdom? Do we dare to stand when everything else is falling and speak the Word that God has wrought in our hearts? That is what we must do.
The urgency of the hour moves upon us. Let us consider for a moment the way in which the Lord has led. Long before many young people were interested in walking with God the prophecy said the young people would come. Two or three years before it started, the prophecies said that God’s moving upon the young people would be the key to the ministries coming forth. We did not have many young people in those days, but suddenly God began to speak. God has a special destiny for the sons and daughters of Joel’s army. This generation is already marked for it. Just think of the little boys and girls learning to read and write and learning about a civilization more complex and difficult than the older generation ever dreamed of. Upon their shoulders will rest the greater part of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. We have set our hearts to walk with God. It will not be easy; we know that. We should pray for one another, that our faith will not fail. There could be a Judas in the body or a doubting Thomas. May each search his heart that he not be one. Many things will come that would deceive the very elect, if it were possible (Matthew 24:24). The leaders are constantly faced with the need for God to give them wisdom to lead His people. We do not have enough wisdom yet. Let us pray for the leaders, for the elders, for the ministries. Let us pray for those who are undertaking challenging new things. Let us pray that the output of the Word will be stepped up a thousand times.
There is an urgency in many areas, but God will give us the wisdom. We are heading for trouble in the world, but also we are heading for the opportunity to preach the Word to the ends of the earth! Jesus talks about the end time in Matthew 24 and in Luke 21. We read of all the difficulties—war, famines, earthquakes—but right in the middle of it, He says, “The gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the ends of the earth” (Matthew 24:14).
Do not be afraid of new things. Do not be afraid to give. Do not hold back. Live out the life and the opportunity that you have. Do not let fear make you bury your talent. Take what little you have and give it to the Lord, saying, “Lord, multiply it in Your name.” Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me. Psalm 23:4a.
God is disrupting people’s lives. Why? Because they are chosen. Someone may be walking along minding his own business, and suddenly everything seems to fall apart, and he goes through a tremendous upheaval. Then God says, “Now will you do My will? Now will you listen to Me?” It becomes a travail of birth that wakes him up to what life is to really mean to him in the will of the Lord. Unless these days be shortened, no flesh will be left alive; but for the elect’s sake, these days will be shortened (Matthew 24:22). In these days no human optimism or inspiration will suffice. Only the joy of the Lord will sustain us and give us strength. From this time on the army of the Lord will march on its knees, or it will go no place. We advance on our knees, or we will not advance at all. We are to be among the saviors God is raising up. We may not have much, but with God’s blessing we will have enough. God grant us the awareness and alertness to what is happening so that even in the midst of battle we will never lose our sense of the destiny for which God raised us up.
Spending the past years as an instrument in the hand of God has justified my existence. The word that comes forth and the realization that God has raised up a walk which is a thing of destiny are enough to justify a man’s life in spite of all the agony and suffering he may endure. God is trying to tell each of us this.
It is not only necessary for us to survive; it is necessary for us to move into the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ that brings down Babylon. A disaster will not bring the Kingdom. The sons of the Kingdom, the manifestation of the sons will bring the Kingdom. Even having food and underground cities will not be adequate, because Satan also knows what is coming. Only the authority of Jesus Christ will bring down the world system.
Some people are expecting that the present system will fall and then everything will be different. But what will make it different? If all the money in the world were redistributed evenly to every man, within a short time only a few men would be controlling it again. Such change is not the answer. Something must bring down Babylon. In the name of the Lord, the authority must come to end the establishment; and there must be a people who are not only prepared to survive its fall but who have the tenacity to see the Kingdom established and God’s will done in earth as it is in heaven.
Before long the true Church of Jesus Christ will again go underground. There will be many false churches, for right up until the destruction of this world system, the harlot rides the beast. The harlot rides the beast until the beast turns and devours her (Revelation 17). The beast will devour the religious system because soon that system will own everything. So many businesses and corporations are controlled by organized religion that much of the land is removed from the tax rolls, and fewer and fewer people are carrying more and more of the financial support of government. Soon this situation will be prohibitive as it becomes an oppressive burden, breaking the backs of the people. Even if our government did not expand to support one more person, our taxes would still continue to soar higher and higher. But the government is expanding; and like a big ogre that is never satisfied, it devours everything; then turns to devour more. We are living in a time of distress.
In I Corinthians 7, the chapter on marriage in the New Testament, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Paul was not against marriage; he was just against their making any radical changes in their status.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you should marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin should marry, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on both those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away. But I want you to be free from concern. I Corinthians 7:26–32a.
This passage is not refuting marriage; it is just trying to tell us that a time of distress is not a time for us to be concerned about our personal welfare or our personal relationships such as marriage. It is a time to be concerned about doing the will of God. Even in a walk with God we are still making our plans too much on a personal level. We still try to work out this situation and that relationship. We are too concerned about our own personal prosperity and relationships. It is time for us to forget the lesser relationships and burdens and become concerned about the Kingdom. This is the hour! “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these other things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
We will not prosper until the Kingdom of God has priority over self interest. It must have priority over our businesses, over our family, over everything—even over our individual ministries. The Kingdom of God is more important than anything else. We must be willing to do anything, even to the point of becoming expendable, in order to see God bring forth what He wants in the earth.
A deep probe into our spirits is needed in order to eliminate the basic self-centeredness of our lives and bring us into a walk with God. We must experience the work of the cross. We cannot go any other route. We will walk as brethren, humbly, in the victory of the Lord. We are to walk in entire sanctification. “May the Lord God sanctify you wholly, that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it” (I Thessalonians 5:23, 24).
Sodom and Gomorrah were two of five very enterprising cities in a valley that regulated and controlled the business of a whole area. In fact, Lot was one of those who sat in the gate (Genesis 19:1), meaning that he was one of the city fathers and an important business and government man in Sodom. I wonder what a good corner lot was bringing in Sodom on the day the fire fell—on that beautiful morning as the sun rose and the birds sang, and people were preparing to go down to the square to buy and sell property. God says, “As it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building—so will it be on the day the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:28–30). That day will come as a snare to take everyone on the face of the earth (Luke 21:34, 35). There will be no way for the people to miss it. The newspapers will not foretell it; there will be no special report. We must keep alert. Only the people of God, who will be able to look to the Lord and have Him show them the real ominous signs, will miss it. This is scriptural. We are not of the night that we should be asleep; we are children of the day, and God has ordained something else for us (I Thessalonians 5:4, 5).
A time of urgency is thrust upon us by the Spirit of the Lord. The time has come when the Lord is saying, “Flee out of Babylon!” This flight is not a matter of distance; it is a matter of positioning. Resigning from a denominational church in itself is not leaving Babylon. Babylon is very complex. It is a way of life; it is the establishment. Coming out of Babylon requires a new way of thinking and a new way of living. The Word says, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12. Suppose that you had only ten years—through the most difficult of circumstances—to accomplish all that God has raised you up to do. Suppose you had ten more years before the Lord’s return and the establishment of His Kingdom. If you used the next ten years as you did the last ten years, could you accomplish all God set before you? Just staying out of a quagmire of depression so that you can limp along in the rut you are in is not enough. Something must jar you into being fully mobilized to do that which God wants done. We must have more than just a concern for survival.
I am reluctant to express this phase of our walk with God in terms of survival. I know that preparation for survival is a necessary function, but our motivation must be a sense of destiny rather than simply a desire to survive. I am not appealing to our sense of self-preservation; I am appealing to our desire to do the will of God!
Is it difficult for you to really see what God wants from you? In the first place, you will have to die as the grain of wheat of which the Lord speaks (John 12:24). You must die out to ambitions and plans, to self-centeredness and selfishness, and be absolutely set on doing the will of the Lord.
We should make it a practice of following the example of the disciples in Antioch (Acts 13:1–3). The ministries should meet together frequently to wait on the Lord for directions and instructions. We must at least set up the framework by which this will work. When the Lord gives a word, we should weigh it, pray over it, and then after a month or so weigh it again. Finally the Spirit will be telling us exactly what to do. From time to time certain religious groups have sold everything and moved from one place to another, awaiting disaster to come. We would rather be occupying and waiting on the Lord, serving Him right where He wants us. But if there is to be a disaster, we would like to be sensitive enough to know about it so that we could be prepared to move before it happened. We must be led by the Spirit of the Lord. When Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, He gave the direction, Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house. Matthew 24:17. Forty years later, when the siege of Titus lifted for a short time, thousands of Christians fled out of the city; and as far as we know, not one of them perished in the fall of Jerusalem. They had a word from the Lord, so they waited, and at the right time, they moved. Lord, help us so to do. The Lord is setting before us an important work. We pray that the spirit of wisdom and of revelation will rest upon those who are given to leaning on their own understanding, and whose understanding is so limited that they do not see these things. The Lord must reveal the truth to each heart and reveal to us the way to go. Fear and selfishness must not dictate our actions, but rather the glorious sense of destiny that rests upon this remnant of God’s people. It was prophesied that a man should be for a hiding place (Isaiah 32:2). The Lord is our hiding place. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Psalm 90:1. We look to Him praying that there be an end to this walk in the flesh.
Let us look upon the dying system without coveting it. Let us look upon it and say, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Let there be nothing within us to draw back from the total destruction of man’s order and man’s way. Let the day of the Lord hasten to us. Let it come upon us swiftly. We seek the Lord for forgiveness of our stupidity, and we ask in faith for His wisdom. God gives to all men liberally and upbraids not (James 1:5). May the Lord make us wise in His ways. May He lead us by a plain path, and let us not turn to the right hand nor to the left. Let us hear the voice behind us saying, “This is the way; walk ye in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
Let each one of God’s people turn aside from everything in his life that is pointless and folly. May the Lord so teach us to number our days that we apply our hearts to wisdom.