THE LAST DAYS!
Rev. John W. Gerald
I. THE OBSESSION OF MATERIALISM
Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
The materialism of this day is an abomination unto the Lord. Greed, strife for material gain, swindling, cheating, beating the ignorant out of their property, are an abomination unto the Lord. Many abominable practices prevail today inviting God’s judgment upon this world.
II. THE DECEPTION OF FALSE WORSHIP
Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
The original prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled by Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) who betrayed the Jews by taking over the temple and offering a pig upon its altar. He forbade Jews to sacrifice and to keep the Sabbath day and other Jewish traditions. He even forbid any Jews from having copies of their scriptures in their possession on pain of death. A great slaughter ensued.
The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, edited by Merrill C. Tenney, c 1967, p. 429
Believing Jews escaped capture by obeying this scripture once. They will escape capture and death again by taking heed to the same warning in the day of Anti-christ.
The world will soon be going all out to proclaim the antichrist as God! We have many who follow false leaders today, and do not know what they do. This situation will not improve.
Jer. 44: 22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
God’s judgments are sure and will certainly come upon the wicked and disobedient. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are desolate even unto this day! How do we expect to escape God’s judgments, when we have had every opportunity to know His laws, but have willfully disregarded them?
III. THE WARNING OF DESOLATION
Jer. 22: 5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
The pronouncement of Judah’s desolation was a warning of God’s judgment against their sins. They have never yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The Antichrist will promise peace, he will even enter into a covenant with them, but will break it after three and one half years. There will be no peace, for the time of Jacob’s greatest trouble ever will follow. A persecution of the Jews, the like of which has never before been known, will take place at this time. The antichrist will turn on the Jews and persecute those severely who will not take his mark. When the Jews discover that he really does not support their religion and God, many thousands will refuse to bow down and worship him.
IV. THE ANTICHRIST PROCLAIMS HIS DEITY
Dan. 8:11 Yea, he magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
The antichrist will make himself to be equal to Christ. He will set himself up as God in the temple. Jewish worship of The Lord will be cut off. Those who will not worship the antichrist will be killed. He will conquer many nations, and peoples.
V. THE MESSIAH COMES AT THE LAST MOMENT
Dan. 8:12 And an host was given [him] against the daily [sacrifice] by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
No worship will be allowed except worship of the antichrist. The Jews refused to accept Jesus when he offered himself. He said they would accept one who comes in his own name. When Pilate offered them a choice, they chose Barabbas. They said: "Let his blood be on us and on our children." This explains much of their trouble until this day!
Jer. 30: 7 Alas! for that day [is] great, so that none [is] like it: it [is] even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
The Antichrist will turn on Judah, and set himself up in the temple as God. When they discover the treachery, it will be almost too late for anyone to save himself. Only by the intervention of Jesus Christ in his coming will Israel be saved. Antichrist forces will have tried to destroy all evangelical Christians, and then they will have turned on the Jews. If those days had not been shortened, no flesh would be saved. The antichrist would have destroyed many thousands, and God’s judgments would have wiped human life off the face of the earth.
VI. THE LENGTH OF ANTICHRIST’S REIGN
Dan. 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain [saint] which spake, How long [shall be] the vision [concerning] the daily [sacrifice], and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
Every Jew would be concerned about how long the antichrist would control the temple, their worship and their lives. How long would the judgments of desolation for transgression last? They believed and hoped for final deliverance and the establishment of their nation.
Dan. 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
The Antichrist will rule in the temple in Jerusalem about three and one-half years. His total time will be almost seven years. He will attack the Christians the first three and one-half years. This will be of little or no concern to the Jews, but when he turns upon them, his fury will know no bounds! The Antichrist spirit is abroad in the world today. Slander, innuendoes, and oppositions of all kinds, are being perpetrated upon Christians individually and in organizations all over the world today. The media does not let up on its attacks either in the news, entertainment, or commentary.
VII. HEAVEN IS FREE OF THE ABOMINABLE
Rev. 21: 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The antichrist is full of lies. He is the servant of, and incarnated by, him who is the father of lies. He is the one who creates the abominable. All the abominations of this world today are his handiwork. He makes all he touches unclean and ugly.
If any abominable thing entered heaven, it would soon be corrupted, too. Satan would have a foothold. Because of his pride, he was expelled with the host of angels that followed him. There is no place for him or such as follow him in heaven. Only those who have been born from above, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of Life, will be qualified to enter heaven.
It will be a wonderful thing to be in a place where Satan’s schemes no longer affect us, where his servants can no longer molest us, and we can have peace forevermore.
Wouldn’t you want to have your name written there?
