|
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]
Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter
Minister
September 11, 2007
Dear Brethren,
Today is the sixth
anniversary of the
shocking 9/11/2001
attacks on the United
States by radical
Islamic fundamentalists.
While there have since
been no attacks on
American soil, there
have been similar
attacks on other
countries—and numerous
attacks have occurred in
conjunction with the
ongoing war in Iraq. As
we watch world events,
we should focus on three
key areas of Bible
prophecy:
One:
The Middle East is the
focal point of
man’s history and the
return of Jesus Christ.
In order for a world
government to be set up
for the final “Beast” to
lead, the Moslem world
will have to be
sufficiently tamed and
brought into the modern
age. This will develop
into an economic and
political union of Arab
states akin to the
European Union. Events
taking place in the
Middle East today will
ultimately lead to this
key union—from which the
prophetic “king of the
south” will emerge.
Two:
The modern nations of
Israel will continued to
receive judgment and
punishment for their sin
and rebellion against
God—and especially for
the horror of abortion,
which is rapidly
approaching 50 million.
England has already
declined greatly over
the past 160 years
because of rejecting God
and embracing Darwinism
and secularism. It now
appears that a Moslem
majority may emerge in
England in the near
future and gain a
dominant position of
power in the nation and
government.
Three:
When England lost its
economic power at the
end of WW II, the world
trading currency shifted
from the British pound
to the American dollar.
Now the dollar is
declining at an
accelerating rate.
Because of massive
national
balance-of-trade debt,
government debt
(national, state and
local), corporate debt
and personal debt, the
dollar is rapidly
descending toward
inevitable collapse. The
evidence is obvious:
inflationary prices, the
collapse of the housing
market, the rise in home
mortgage foreclosures,
etc.
The dollar’s failure has
been coming in stages
through inflation which
devalues its purchasing
power. Consider this:
Compared to the dollar
of 1913—back before the
Federal Reserve took
over the American
banking system—today’s
dollar is only worth
four cents. This
means that a $500,000
home today is only worth
$20,000 in 1913 dollars.
As these problems
continue to grow, the
American economy will
experience a major
fall—which will
undoubtedly usher in the
“Amero” as its
replacement. The failure
of the U.S. economy will
be similar to the
economic crisis faced by
Argentina and Brazil
from 1970 to the 1990s.
However, as those
nations recovered, we
too will recover after a
painful recession at
best, or a deep
depression at worse.
Again, this will be
God’s punishment for our
national sins, and will
advance the coming of
Satan’s world
government. While
it is certainly not
pleasant to read and
hear about such things,
we must not stick our
heads in the sand or our
eyes shut pretending
that world evils will
all somehow go away.
The prophecies of God are sure and will occur. Most people want the
blessings of God—but
they also want to be
free to do whatever they
please and continue to
live in sin. When the
curses of God come upon
them for their sins,
they get angry and
wonder why. They fail to
realize that half
of the promises of God
are blessings for
righteousness, and
half are curses and
punishment for sins.
Right now, aside from the Jews, the modern-day descendants of
Israel—America, Canada,
Britain, northwest
Europe, Australia, New
Zealand and South
Africa—are all suffering
from the heavy hand of
God’s correction. The
first to suffer greatly
was South Africa, in the
1980s and 90s. They
survived the near
destruction of their
nation, the demise of
the Kruger Rand and the
natives taking over
their government. But
they are no longer the
wealthy nation they once
were. In all the nations
of modern Israel, we can
see the same trends
taking place—in
government, business,
economics, the schools,
even on the streets.
Yet, God prophesied of
this thousands of years
ago: “The stranger
[foreigner] that is
within you shall get up
above you very high; and
you shall come down very
low. He shall lend to
you, and you shall not
lend to him: he shall be
the head, and you shall
be the tail.
“Moreover all these curses [from verse 15 on] shall come upon you,
and shall pursue you,
and overtake you, till
you are destroyed;
because you did not
hearken to the voice of
the Lord
your God, to keep
His commandments and His
statutes which He
commanded you: and they
shall be upon you for a
sign and for a wonder,
and upon your seed for
ever. Because you did
not serve the Lord
your God with
joyfulness, and with
gladness of heart, for
the abundance of all
things. Therefore you
shall serve your enemies
which the Lord
shall send against you,
in hunger, and in
thirst, and in
nakedness, and in want
of all things: and he
shall put a yoke of iron
upon your neck, until he
has destroyed you”
(Deut. 28:43-48).
Indeed, is not pleasant
to read of these things
before the Feast of
Tabernacles;
nevertheless, they are
the realities of today
and of the very near
future. But here is good
news! If we are wise and
love and obey God, He
will see us through it
all. While it is
true that we need to be
prudent in financial
matters and reduce our
debts, it is most
imperative that we
maintain a strong
spiritual relationship
with God the Father and
Jesus Christ through
prayer, study, keeping
His commandments and
laws—which all reflect
our love for God! This
is what I have been
bringing out in the
sermon series, “Be
Strong in the Lord.”
The simplest definition
of our entire
relationship with God
from His perspective is
this: “Obey My voice.”
The apostle Paul wrote,
“If you are
Christ’s, then you are
Abraham’s seed, and
heirs according to
the promise” (Gal.
3:29). If we love God
and believe His Word, we
will obey God’s voice
as Abraham did, and the
Bible is the word of
God. When God confirmed
the promised to Isaac,
He explained that it was
because of Abraham’s
faith, love and
obedience: “Abraham
obeyed my voice,
and kept my charge, my
commandments, my
statutes, and my laws”
(Gen. 26:5).
Jesus made it clear in the New Testament that we are to likewise obey
His voice: “Therefore,
everyone who
hears these words of
Mine and practices them,
I will compare him to a
wise man who built his
house upon the rock
[Christ]; and the rain
came down, and the
floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat
upon that house
[reflective of our
trials and overcoming
the world]; but it did
not fall, for it was
founded upon the rock.
And everyone who
hears these words of
Mine and does not
practice them shall
be compared to a foolish
man, who built his house
upon the sand; and the
rain came down, and the
floods came, and beat
upon that house; and it
fell, and great was the
fall of it” (Matt.
7:24-27).
Remember this: We are
called to be part of
God’s solution to
all the problems of the
world. When Jesus
returns, we are to
help Him rule and
judge the world (Rev.
20:4-6). This is the
meaning of the Feast of
Tabernacles and why we
keep these days.
Regardless of the way
things are going in the
world, we need to
rejoice in our calling
and in God’s feasts. Not
only is God going to
give us the gift of
eternal life at the
first resurrection, but
we are going to help
save the world and
assist Jesus Christ in
completing God the
Father’s plan and
purpose for all mankind.
So rather than being
depressed or feeling
down because of all the
“doom and gloom” of this
present world, we need
to keep our spiritual
focus on the hope of
God for the
Church—and for all
mankind. Realize this:
The whole world is
actually waiting
for us and all the
children of God to
save this world with
Christ. As Paul
wrote, “Now if we are
children, we are
also heirs—truly, heirs
of God and joint heirs
with Christ—if indeed we
suffer together with
Him, so that we may also
be glorified together
with Him. For I reckon
that the sufferings of
the present time are
not worthy to be
compared with the
glory that shall be
revealed in us. For the
earnest expectation of
the creation itself
is awaiting the
manifestation of the
sons of God; because
the creation was
subjected to vanity, not
willingly, but by reason
of Him who subjected
it in hope, in order
that the creation
itself might be
delivered from the
bondage of corruption
into the freedom of the
glory of the children of
God.
“For we know that all
the creation is groaning
together and travailing
together until now. And
not only that,
but even we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, also
groan within ourselves,
awaiting the sonship—the
redemption of our
bodies. For by hope we
were saved; but hope
that is seen is not
hope; for why would
anyone still be hoping
for what he sees? But if
we hope for what we do
not see, we ourselves
wait for it with
patience.
“Now in the same way
also, the Spirit is
conjointly helping our
weaknesses because we do
not fully understand
what we should pray for,
according as it is
necessary, but the
Spirit itself makes
intercession for us with
groanings that cannot be
expressed by us.
And the one Who searches
the hearts comprehends
what the strivings of
the Spirit are
because it makes
intercession for the
saints according to
the will of God.
And we know that all
things work together for
good to those who love
God, to those who are
called according to
His purpose”
(Rom. 8:17-28).
Brethren, thank you
once again for your love
and prayers, which mean
so much to us. Without
your prayers we simply
could not do the work we
are doing. Like you, we
are weak and struggle
with human nature. We
too realize that we have
nothing except what we
receive from God.
Indeed, our very
day-to-day existence
depends on His love.
Thank you for your
continued support
through your tithes and
offerings. It is our
goal to return as much
as possible back to all
the brethren so they
will have all the tools
necessary to grow in
grace and knowledge and
obtain eternal life. May
God the Father and Jesus
Christ continue to
strengthen you with His
grace and love in
everything.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
P.S.: The Bible Project
is right on schedule; I
will write more on it
after the Feast.
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]
|
