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Last week, as you have heard, with our Bibles in hand, we traced what God has to say on the subject of our Lord's personal return. With that same book in hand this evening, we are to draw aside the veil of the future and see what God has said about the future of politics, at least in the Western world, in those days immediately before our Lord's coming again in power and great glory. For that purpose, we may need to take some well-known landmarks so that we shall not be altogether lost in the detail of biblical prophecy that we are about to consider.
For that purpose, I suggest, first of all, we take as a prominent landmark the future of the Jewish people, and in particular of Jerusalem, their city, as it was outlined in prophecy by our Lord Jesus Christ himself a few days before he went to the cross. By your permission, I am going to read from the gospel by Luke and chapter twenty one, the verses which record what our Lord Jesus Christ said. The verses begin in cha- in verse twenty of this chapter twenty one. Said our Lord, when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand.
Then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains, and let them that are in the midst of her depart out, and let not them that are in the country enter therein. Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days, for there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem shall be down, trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. These words in themselves are a remarkable prophecy, for the most part already fulfilled.
Our Lord, you was- will observe, was on the eve of his execution, and to his disciples he outlined what was to be the future of the nation that were now rejecting him and were about to hang him upon a cross. He indicated that Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies and warned his bel- his believing disciples that when they saw the city encircled with the armies, they were to flee. He was, of course, referring to the famous siege of Jerusalem conducted by Vespasian and Titus that ended in the complete sack of that city and the burning of its temple.
Our Lord's words ring with wisdom. We know from the secular historians that when the Romans came towards that city, many Jews quite mistakenly fled into the city itself. For many, many months, that siege continued until the inhabitants of Jerusalem were reduced to the very extremities of famine. And at last, the pressure becoming too violent, were forced to submit. The streets of Jerusalem literally ran with blood.
Thousands upon thousands of Jews were massacred. I do not want to dwell upon that historic event, save only to point out in passing that this is an example of prophecy fulfilled. We may, fastening our attention thereon just for a moment, be reassured in our faith that just as this prophecy spoken by our Lord some forty years before the event occurred was literally fulfilled. So all those other prophecies which he spoke will be just as literally fulfilled.
Our Lord not only indicated that the city would be sieged and sacked. He said, if you observe, that the people shall be led captive into all the nations. That is precisely what happened. There came an uneasy peace after the sack of Jerusalem, with the Jews now and again trying desperately to revolt once more and to break free from Roman domination. But in the end, they were completely defeated and absolutely crushed, and they were led captive into all the nations. And our Lord added that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
That too is precisely what happened. The Jews lost their capital city, and from then on it fell into the hands of the Gentiles and has been in Gentile hands right up until this very present day. Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until, said our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is upon that word until that we fasten our attention particularly this evening. For Jerusalem is still downtrodden of the nations. The Jews, though they have founded their state once more and are back in many parts of their original country, still do not have possession of their capi- capital city, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem shall be downtrodden of the Gentiles, said Christ, until. So that as this evening we read that word until and look forward into the future, we are now penetrating the prophecy of God. We are, in fact, scanning the coming horizon. And from these simple verses we learn that whereas the Jews were besieged, sacked, and defeated, and eventually dispersed by the Romans throughout the Gentile countries, whereas their city has for centuries been in the hands of Gentiles and still is, yet there is coming a moment when that situation will be reversed.
Downtrodden until. Until the times of the Gentiles become in. And naturally, we wonder to ourselves, well, what quite does that curious phrase mean, the times of the Gentiles? And have we any indication in Holy Writ when those times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled? When, in fact, Jerusalem shall be restored to the Jews? We find our answer in the immediate context, for our Lord goes on to say, and there shall be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows, men faint- fainting for fear and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world.
For the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the cloud with power and great glory. When ye see these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws nigh. In other words, our Lord is plainly indicating that Jerusalem shall be restored to the Jews, the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled somewhere in those days or months, just before our Lord is about to come in power and great glory.
So that we are once more looking forward into the future, looking forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, not now so much to take up from this world those who have trusted in him, but coming to establish his reign in power and great glory. We learn that in those days, Jerusalem shall be given back to the Jew. That becomes exceedingly interesting, because we in this generation have seen a happening which has been full of significance. We have lived to see the state of Israeli formed.
We have lived to see the Jews who for centuries had been scattered throughout the nations of the world. I say we have lived to see them literally going back to their land, and what is more, firmly established in Palestine. The United Nations said they shouldn't go. The Arabs said that they would fight to prevent them. But against all who said they shouldn't, they went. And they have established themselves, and moreover made to themselves an independent country under their own national government and flag.
We see a remarkable thing of this nation revived, reviving their language, speaking now not Yiddish any longer, speaking now what is in fact basically the original and classical Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written. Modernized and developed, it is true. But there they are back in their land. While there are many thousands of them that are completely godless and atheistic, yet there never was such a tremendous interest in Israel, in Israel's book, the Old Testament, as there is at this present time. National competitions are being held in Jude- in Jewry to award prizes to those who will study their Bibles and know them as best as may be.
I say we have lived to see an exceedingly interesting development. You observe my caution. While the Jews are now in their land as an independent state, I point out to you once more that they still do not possess their capital. They shall not possess that capital until the times of the Gentiles become in, until our Lord Jesus personally return. And I have no authority to tell you how long or short is the gap between this present moment, when the Jews are back in their land and established once more as an independent nation, the gap between this period and that time when eventually they will be given their city.
I have no authority to tell you how long that gap will be. But it cannot be that we read these things in light of present situations without being remarkably taken pace forward in the development of human history, in observing the Jew back in his own land as a sovereign nation once more. We may take as another landmark, not merely the political future laid out for the Jew, but the religious future. The Apostle Paul, writing to Gentiles in Rome, Gentile Christians, therefore writing to all of us who are Gentile Christians in this age, said these words: I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
And so all Israel shall be saved. It is the lamentable fact, foretold in Old Testament scripture, that when our Lord Jesus came the first time as Israel's Messiah, he came unto his own things, and his own people received him not. And for centuries, the vast majority of Jews have stoutly rejected the claims of Jesus of Nazareth to be their Messiah, to be the Son of God. And Jews officially still do. Back in their land, they show no signs of repenting of their decision that put the Lord Jesus to the cross.
And yet the Bible clearly indicates that while a hardening has happened to them, they are the enemies of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, yet there is coming a time when they shall be saved. A hardening has happened to them until the fullness of the Gentiles become in. And once more we meet a phrase similar to that other one, until the fullness of the Gentiles become in, and then all Israel shall be saved. You say, when will that be? The scriptures once more are precise.
There shall come forth a deliverer out of Zion, and shall turn away iniquity from Israel and sin from Jacob. It shall be when our Lord Jesus comes again. Then shall the prophecy of Isaiah be fulfilled in its fullest sense, as many people in the nation of Israel have it revealed to them that this Jesus coming in power and great glory, this Messiah whom they stand to welcome coming in power and great glory, is none other than the Jesus of Nazareth that wants their nation put to the cross. As that glorious Christ surprises many nations, the Jew shall come with the words of Isaiah fifty three upon his lips, saying, surely he was despised and we esteemed him not, and yet he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Again, I cannot tell you how long there is to be between this present moment and then. But once more, no Christian who knows his Bible can hear with indifference the tremendous resurge of interest in the Old Testament that is taking place in Israel at this time. It is not merely that the Jews here and there individually are reading their Bibles. It is that in the interests of national politics, the government itself is sponsoring large movements for the reading of the Old Testament.
I admit to you at once that as they read, the veil is on their heart. But they are getting ready with a revived interest in the program of the Old Testament. They are surely getting ready, though unbeknown to them, for the biggest revelation that that nation has ever had, that this Jesus whom they crucified is in fact the Christ of God that shall come from heaven. But we must turn to the matter that more particularly concerns us this evening. I have quoted to you the Jew and his future as landmarks by which we may begin to s- map out the country of Gentile politics in the days just before the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have come across this phrase, the times of the Gentiles. Its significance is briefly this. There was a short period of history when God appointed the king of Israel to be the government on earth that immediately represented God. David was God's anointed king, and for some few centuries, the dynasty that King David set up lived on earth and reigned on earth as a government immediately under the appointment of God.
But the Old Testament tells us that those kings sinned against God and sinned against their privilege, for which sin God cast them away out of their land and caused them to be taken captive in Babylon. Ever since Nebuchadnezzar the Great took captive the Jews from Judah and transported their kings to Babylon, there has never sat on the throne of Israel a Jewish king of the tribe of David. Since that time, God has given over the leadership of Gentile nations to Gentile people. And from time to time, there have come to the fore in Gentile politics certain very strong empires.
In fact, way back in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, God himself gave Daniel the prophet a foreview of the rise and fall of many Gentile powers. As they pass in array, we see various forms of government that at one time and another have held sway in the course of history. It is not too much to say that men have been groping for centuries for the ideal kind of government. Government after government has been tried. Absolute monarch- monarchies, democracies, republics, oligarchs.
A whole array of all sorts and kinds of governments has been tried down the centuries, as nations have jostled with each other for supremacy and have struggled with their own political problems to devise a form of government that would be suitable and beneficial to the majority of their subjects. We tonight are particularly interested in the final form of government existing, at least in the West, in those days just prior to the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want immediately to read to you a figurative description of the kind of governmental setup that shall be existent then.
I take some of some words from the Revelation in chapter thirteen. some I shall take from chapter seventeen and again from chapter nineteen. The Revelation chapter thirteen says, I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy. 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 dra- uh, lion, and the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
I would like you to notice, first of all, that this power, this government, herein figured in the typical biblical way as an animal, is a strange amalgam of animals. Those of us who are not, uh, frequently engaged in reading these prophetic parts of God's word may find the figure a little bit strange. And yet it is a common thing in scripture, witness the book of Daniel, that various governments are described under the figure of different, um, animals. For instance, the empire of Alexander is likened in scripture to a leopard because of it, the tremendous speed of Alexander's lightning-like conquests.
But in these last days, there shall arise a government, and under the figure of this animal, we begin to see what kind of a government it shall be. It shall be an amalgam, not a straightforward lion or bear or tiger, but an amalgam, like unto a leopard, but his feet as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion, an amalgam. We notice that it has ten horns. I want to read from chapter seventeen a further description of these horns. Chapter seventeen and verse twelve says, and the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.
These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast. These shall make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Shall we notice that this coming great power is not only in itself an amalgam of various forms of government, but in its final phase it shall have ten independent kings who shall agree to give their power to the beast. These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.
This is a remarkable statement upon which I want to dwell for a moment. It describes a form of government that we have never yet had, to my knowledge, in the course of human history. This is a question of ten independent kings agreeing to cede their sovereignty to one central government. We have had all sorts of governments before. We have had monarchies, as I say, republics, oligarchies, and democracies. Never yet, to my knowledge, have we had an international government.
We have known powerful nations go to war against other nations and subdue them, and take under their wing what were originally independent countries, but that did not compose an international government. It was the case of the conquered being ruled by the conqueror. But in these last days, the world shall witness this new form of government when independent sovereign states shall agree to give their sovereignty, to cede their sovereignty to another, to form this amalgam, headed up under this great central figure.
You say, how do you know that this is here describing the future? Is it not true, somebody will say, that some people hold that the book of the Revelation merely describes the politics such as they were in John's day? It is true that some people so read it. I want to point out to you the explicit statement of scripture that this shall take place at our Lord's coming in power and great glory. We read together that these ten horns, these ten kings give their power to the beast, and they make war together upon the Lamb.
Would you say there have always been hostile powers, hostile to Christianity? So be it, there have. But the occasion when these shall make war with the Lamb is precisely told us in the Revelation chapter nineteen. I read quite at length, but to esta- establish the point. And I saw the heaven opened. This is verse eleven, Behold a white horse and he that sat thereon called faithful and true. In righteousness he doth judge and make war, and his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems, and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but himself. And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
The armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the race nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. He hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Verse nineteen: and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, them that worshipped his image.
They twain were cast into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone, and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. This great battle is the battle, in fact, which is to be fought in that historically notorious place, the field of Armageddon. I submit to you that we cannot do other than take this description as a description of fearful judgment. A time when our Lord Jesus shall tread the winepress of the fierceness of wrath of Almighty God.
The time when heaven shall be opened and Christ shall come. This is not talking of that war between God and man that has been simmering for centuries. This is talking of that great outburst in those final days, which will be led, we observe, by this beast and those ten kings making war against the Lamb. I trust I have established the point that this international government shall be in those days when our Lord is coming again.
And it makes very interesting reading. You will not need me to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that we are on the very eve, it would seem, of the establishment in Europe of an international government. I am not, of course, referring to the common market, but I am referring to that considerable body of opinion amongst political experts and others that holds that the only way out of the present dilemma among the modern nations is the forming of an international government.
There are some who would say so outright. Bertrand Russell, in his book Has Mankind a Future, explicitly devotes chapters to this very theme. And we shall, none of us accuse Bertrand Russell of trying to expound scripture or, or, or, or trying to make prophecy come true, because Bertrand Russell, as you know, is a confessed atheist. But, argues Bertrand Russell, if we are to tame the fearful horrors, the fearful potential of the atomic bomb, the only way it can possibly be done is by the establishment of an international government.
He points out that a, a, an institution such as the United Nations, well-intentioned and good in its way, is utterly powerless in this particular situation because the member nations have right of veto, and if the Na- the United Nations says to one nation, you shall not explode that atomic bomb, then that nation has the right to veto and goes on exploding the atomic bomb. The hideousness of the possibilities have not come home to many people. I pointed them out this, uh, uh, this lecture last week. I remind you of them again.
Mankind has now in his possession a fearful instrument. It was once that the Americans only possessed the secret. Britain has it, Russia has it, France seems to have it, and with every additional nation that gets the know-how to make an atomic bomb, the risk that one of these bombs shall go off accidentally grows and grows. It needs merely an accident. Some nation to get it into its head that it's being attacked by another Pearl Harbor. For the nations to begin mashing out with one another with atomic bombs till the whole thing goes in an utter debacle.
I do not say these things to be alarmist. I point out to you the actual state of affairs. It's the fact that American bombers have already been airborne by mistake, starting off on their mission to hurl atomic bombs against Russia. Fortunately, the mistake was found out in time. And to stop that and somehow get a control of this fearful possibility, men are beginning seriously to consider what seems to be the only way out, the formation of an international government.
I say we cannot read these things without being exceedingly interested. The Bible says that in the days before the return of Christ in power and great glory, there shall be in power an international government. I point out to you that that is not a commonplace. International governments haven't sprinkled the page of history. There haven't been any before. We begin to tie the threads together. For centuries, the Jews were not in their land, but they are in their land now, recently established.
Now there begins a tremendous interest in the Old Testament once more amongst the Jewish nation, and that officially by, by encouragement of Parliament. Now, at this moment, men's minds are increasingly turning to the possibilities, nay, almost to the necessity of setting up an international government, driven thereto, much as it might hurt Britain, who loves to sing Britons never shall be slaves, to cede her sovereignty. Yet ten nations shall do it, we are told, in those final days. To say the least, it looks peculiarly clear that the stage is rapidly being set for this final scene before the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Before I add anything else, I want to say clearly that nothing that I have said or shall say is meant to be said in detriment to honest, well-intentioned, noble citizens and politicians who have given of their lives, a great sacrifice, some of them, desperately to serve mankind and rescue mankind from the hideous possibilities in front. Nothing, I repeat, is meant to be derogatory to them. All honor to them, and as Christians, it is our duty bound to pray for them, every one, that God may prosper their efforts.
But when I have said that, ladies and gentlemen, I must a- add that all is not well. The international government that shall be is not well. Certainly men shall say of it when it comes peace and safety, but the Bible warns us that when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them for some very obvious reasons. The head of that international government shall be the wickedest man that Earth has ever seen. I say that advisedly. The Apostle Paul, in his inspired writing, the second epistle to the Thessalonians, tells us of that coming day when the head of this great international government shall himself sit in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
By his latest inventions, he shall do things that border on the miraculous. He shall deceive many nations. He shall set himself up demanding that men worship him and the state. He shall outlaw all other forms of religion. I say again, this not, this is not excitement, nor is this figurative language, for I quote you from the plain straightforward letter of the Apostle Paul. It hasn't happened yet, said the apostle. As yet there is a power that restrains him, though the secret of iniquity doth already work.
But when that restraining power is removed, he shall come with all his deceivableness and utter genius. Men shall accept him. He shall seem to solve their problems and bring them peace, and then he shall show his true colors. He shall sit in the temple of God, claiming to be God. When shall it happen? The scriptures speak again with consentient voice. That man shall be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's personal coming.
We are being told here in precise language how the stage will be set politically when Christ is coming again. I say it is not well. In his hatred of God, he and his ten kings Confederate with him shall lead the armies of men, we read, and they shall make war upon the land. But somebody says with a smile, but Mr. Lecturer, you don't take those things literally, do you? You don't imagine, surely you don't imagine this thing literally happening, that Christ is coming again personally with a great army in heaven, and this government that you talk of is going literally to oppose him.
But I do. Oh, but you say, come, sir, that's absurd. It's absurd, surely, to think of man, however powerful, trying to fight against God. Absurd? Why absurd? We saw last week, and I took trouble to prove it to you from Holy Writ, that Christ coming again is literal. It is not absurd, but quite conceivable that when the sign of the Son of Man is seen, his coming in heaven, that men will literally attempt to oppose him by force.
I remind you, we are now living in the space age. A recent world famous astronomer was telling us in Queens recently that, in his opinion, there exists life in other parts of the universe. In his opinion, we are on the verge of getting in contact with this kind of life. I do not comment upon the likelihood of those things, but I point out to you that man is already out in space. His mind is being prepared that there are beings out in space.
He has his weapons, if need be, to take out into space. It is quite within the realms of possibility that when Christ literally comes with the armies of heaven, this dictator on earth will persuade mankind that this is an invasion from Mars, maybe. And he shall attempt in his puny strength to hurl back at Christ. The latest devices that science have been able to achieve. The minds of your children are being daily fostered in the idea of space travel and spacemen and Martians and Jupiterites and whatever they are, are they not?
They would take it in like that. But you say, come, come, sir, the very idea of man trying to fight against God, surely that is absurd. I ask you to remember what they did to God the first time he visited our planet. You believe, sir, that Jesus Christ is God? God incarnate. The first time he came, they hadn't atomic bombs to fling at him, but they had spears, they had nails, and they had a horrible form of execution, crucifixion, and they used the lot.
These are not fairy tales. Fight against God? My dear good people, that is what man has already done. If this book be true, man stands guilty before God of having taken the Son of God incarnate with bestial cruelty, hounded him to a cross. What has happened once will happen again. Why so, you say? Because fighting against God, though it flare up into prominence on some occasions, is what the human heart daily does.
I don't want to be melodramatic, but if you will ask what is the cause of political confusion, if you will come near a home and ask what is the trouble of the human heart, ladies and gentlemen, the word of God says that the trouble is that man is out of gear with God. The way man is born, he is born with a nature. The Bible uses the technical term for it called the flesh, and it says the flesh, the mind of the flesh, is enmity with God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
That is the dreadful verdict, the dreadful diagnosis that God writes over the human heart. And these prophecies shall come true, and man shall fight against God. They shall come true in great part because that is what man's heart is doing now. You say, but sir, I dispute you on the topic. Somebody says, I think this is an altogether unjust, unjust reading of the human heart. Are there not many kindly people in this world? So be it that they are not all convinced Christians, yet they are kindly people. They bring up their children well, they are affectionate, they engage in great deal of social work, you say.
How can you dare accuse them of being enemies of God? Please get me right, sir. I bracket myself along with them. The great Apostle Paul, in describing his unconverted days, yeah, and his, his converted days as well, had to confess that with all his zeal for God, he found within him, working in his members, a law that was antagonistic to God. God's law said, thou shalt not covet, but he did covet. And he didn't want to covet, but he did covet. Oh, wretched man that I am, says he, I got a something inside here that is a traitor to God's law.
Would not you, sir, would not you, madam, admit the same? In your quieter moments, you don't agree with that piece of spite, or that act of selfishness, or that uncleanness, or whatever it be. Would not you bracket yourself with the rest of us that though we don't want to sin always, we find that in our members there is this enemy? Try how we will, we cannot put down one hundred percent? Yes, says God, and I will tell you what that enemy is. An enemy that fills every human breast. Sin. A sinful nature cannot be subject to God's law and is at enmity with God.
That's why our Lord Jesus Christ laid it down in categorical terms. Said he, if men ever are going to come under the government of God and live to please God, the first essential is this, said Jesus Christ, you must be born again. The human heart, the human nature is so wrong in God's sight. It can never be put right, except it go through this experience which God calls being born again. Otherwise, it never will be subject to God's law. It cannot indeed be. But that brings me to another point.
I do not know you folk here in Tandrabee, and four Sundays seems all too short in which to talk to you. I am obliged, therefore, to seem to be blunt and direct and personal. I don't want to preach at anybody, but for time's sake, I must be explicit. We may all test ourselves just here, whether or not we are enemies of God at this very moment. We believe Jesus is God's son. Then looking us straight in the face and diagnosing our need, God's son says, you must.
Always laying down the law. You must. Must what? You must, says Christ, be born again. Sir, are you born again? Are you, madam? It were useless to us to fiddle about with prophecy unless we are prepared to see its moral impact. The human heart is against God, says scripture. Test it out here, sir. Christ says you must.
Have you been? We cannot surely plead ignorance. None of us here present can say, I've never heard this before. Yet if we have, if there is anybody here present who has never heard this before, never heard of the decree of Christ that says you must be born again, then if you've never heard it, sir, come now, prove that you're not an enemy of God. Come and be born again. Make it your first thing in life to see that this thing is done. You must be, says Christ. What about those of us who have known about this vaguely, for years, maybe? I want to lay it upon everybody here present, who can hear Christ saying, you must be born again.
If there should be one present that has not yet been born again, I want to hold that over you as a typical example. That the human heart so very often kicks against doing what Christ says. It will talk about doing its level best, it will talk about serving God, it will talk about making people happy, it will talk of, um, leaving the world a better place than it found it. And God brushes that aside and says, look here, your trouble is deeper than that. You must be born again. And not to be born again is one more example of that awful flaw in the human heart.
It won't be subject to what God says. It will be religious before it will bow to what God says. The final tragedy, as we look forward to this future, is told us in words that are so terrible that I almost hesitate to quote them publicly. I read them from the calm statement of God's word itself. They are, in their way, so awful as to be hideous. But describing this time when this great international leader shall have welded the Western nations at any rate together, on the eve of our Lord's coming to destroy him, we read, for this cause God sendeth them a strong delusion, that men should believe a lie, that they all might be judged, who
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. In explicit language, God says that there will be people in that day, when this giant of a politician comes, they will believe him and share his ultimate terrible fate at the hands of God's judgment. How do you know they'll believe him? They'll believe him, says the Bible, because God shall send them a strong delusion that they believe the lie, that they might be damned.
You say, Mr. Lecturer, that is hideous beyond all, all reckoning. Just a moment. The God who will in those days send people this strong delusion that they believe the lie and be damned, I remind you, was the God that so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that they should not perish. The God who for centuries has been beseeching men and telling them lovingly that they must be born again, else they'll perish. Who has given his own son that they might be born again and that they should not perish.
But there are some people who will continue on without being born again, and though they know God's gospel, and though they know God's entreaty to be born again, they refuse to be born again. What shall God do when the human heart maintains its enmity like that? Shall God come in and force people to be saved? No, no. The God that made human personality and gave man a free will, God will never squash that free will. He will never do you that insult, sir.
God has given us all that free will of choice, and God will honor our choice. If we choose to be careless now, he warns us, and he warns us, and he warns us. If we temporize and procrastinate, he comes and woos us and loves us and woos us again, saying that he so loves us that he gave his son that we shouldn't perish, pointing out that his son is the truth. But if men and women say no to God, there will come the time when God, honoring their personalities, will say, right, have it your way and perish.
I don't say but what it will cut God's heart to its very core that any creature of his own hands could possibly take that view of God and say, no God, no God, eternally no God. But those creatures that do, God shall say, well, have it your way, though it breaks God's heart to let them. There is a moral in these things. Nor should I trouble you with this recount of the future, save there were a practical benefit to be gained.
It is that we learn to read our own hearts before God now. We cannot claim to be different from our neighbors. We are made of the same stuff each. God says of us all, we must be born again, as we shall perish. Not God himself can save us if we refuse. God offers us life. There is only one alternative to life in the nature of things, and that is death. God offers us life. God offers us light.
There is only one alternative to light in the nature of things, and that is darkness. God offers us his son, his Christ. There is no alternative to Christ but Antichrist. God offers us the truth in his incarnate son, and to reject the truth, there is no alternative to the truth but the lie, is there? God, at the cost of his own Son's sacrifice, offers us heaven, but ladies and gentlemen, there is only one alternative to heaven, and that is hell. I pray God that his kindness in showing us beforehand whither the future leads may bring us all to ask ourselves upon what road we are treading, that we all of us may in time see to it well that we have fulfilled the obligation that we have been born again.
And if any here present doesn't know what that means but would like to know, any Christian here present will tell you, or I myself. You see, it is not a thing of special merit or special difficulty. Thousands, millions have been born again and are eternally saved. You too, sir. You too, madam. Might have this experience of God and pass from death to life. You too could be saved and certain and sure. Shall we bow our heads in prayer?
We thank thee, blessed God, that in thy kindness thou hast revealed as much of the future as is beneficial to us all. We pray that thou wilt write the words of thy Bible upon our hearts. Thou wilt in thy goodness cause us to understand the things that are written there. Though maybe we see the future darkly, O God, we thank thee that thy present requirement stands out abundantly clear. We thank thee for the possibility that we may be born again. We praise thee for the clarity of thine urgency that tells us categorically that we must be.
We pray that in thy grace, thou wilt so speak to us all, that none of us here shall be disobedient to this demand, but rather all of us coming to the Savior and receiving from him this life of which he speaks, shall be forgiven now, receive his Holy Spirit now, and in the conscious knowledge of being right with God, enter into peace now, and into heaven when he comes, through that same Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
