Our weekly Updates are filled with important information in an effort to teach, educate, encourage, warn and prepare our readership regarding the soon-coming Kingdom of God. This edition is no exception. The Q&A by Pastor Michael Link addresses America’s Thanksgiving Day and answers the question as to what attitude true Christians should have towards this festival and thanksgiving in general. The Current Events contain numerous news articles showing developments towards the sure fulfillment of biblical prophecy in our time.
Some may not want to read these news articles and our comments as they portray many times an evil world cut off from God and ruled by Satan. They don’t want to hear about “bad news,” not realizing that these prophetic events on which we focus in our Updates are necessary to occur so that Jesus Christ can come back. He clearly showed us that a great tribulation or a global war will happen which will threaten the very survival of mankind. This mass destruction will be inspired by Satan and caused by the unconscionable and irresponsible use of man’s terrible nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Not many people will survive World War III. That is the bad news.
The good news is that Christ will return to shorten these unique days in man’s history so that some will survive. He also told us that faithful members of His Church will be protected during that time. And He made clear that when He returns, He will banish and imprison Satan, replace all human governments and kingdoms, and rule Himself as “King of kings and Lord of lords.” You and I have the potential of becoming those immortal “kings” and “lords,” assisting Christ to rule this world under Him with righteousness and fair judgment (Psalm 9:7-8).
We are told to pray daily: “Your Kingdom Come.” We are to have a deep longing for that wonderful time which will end all pain and suffering. But we also know that before this can occur, unspeakable suffering will engulf this planet. People will become more and more violent, corrupt, ungodly, haters who are being hated (Matthew 24:10; Titus 3:3), deceivers who are being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13), murderers who will be murdered (1 John 3:15; Matthew 26:52; Revelation 13:10). And because the transgression of God’s Law will increase, the love of God will grow cold in many. Demons will have a field day, and while they are determined to destroy the entire world and all of mankind, God’s people will be their main focus.
How are we, as God’s children, to pray? What attitude are we to have regarding the future? We are told to watch and pray always… so wanting to ignore what is going on is certainly not the right approach towards watching (Luke 21:28-31). It is also not the right approach towards praying. We are to sigh and cry over all the abominations which are happening in our country and around the world (Ezekiel 9:4)… this we can only do if we know what is happening. We are to have a great desire for Christ’s return, but we are warned not to desire the plagues which will occur on the “woeful” Day of the Lord (Amos 5:18; Jeremiah 17:16). We are admonished to be thankful for everything, as this week’s Q&A brings out, but how can we be thankful for the evil that is prophesied to happen? And how can we be thankful for evil rulers and lying politicians who will bring havoc on this earth?
Although Satan rules this world, he can do nothing without God’s permission. God has shown us what He is going to do. He will use a future German or Austrian “king of Assyria” (Isaiah 10:5-6) to invade and conquer the modern descendants of the ancient houses of Israel and Judah (including the USA, the UK, Canada, other English-speaking nations and the state of Israel). Even though we read that Satan will give this evil “king of the North” or the “beast” his power (Revelation 13:4), God allows it to fulfill His purpose… in this context, to punish the modern descendants of the ancient Israelites for their pride and many sins. We can be thankful to God that He is in control.
God allows us to live in this rotten society to test us to see how we act and react. We are sent into this world, but we are not to be of this world. Will we maintain a godly attitude at all times, allowing God to fight our battles, or are we too quick to take matters into our own hands, drawing our “sword” against our persecutors (whether using a literal weapon or spewing out piercing and accusatory words) to pay them back in kind? Are we willing to revenge ourselves, or are we thankful that God allows such opportunities in our lives so that we can react in righteousness, thereby growing toward perfection?
We most certainly are not to pray for the well-being and continuation of this evil world and we are not to love the things in this world. We are not to love the evil deeds of the sinners, but we are to hope and pray that they may accept the gift of repentance which God may offer them. We are not to long for our enemy’s destruction, but we must also realize that God is just and fair, and that He will deal with His enemies if they do not change.
We are to remember that the sinners have to pay–their sins will find them out (Numbers 32:23) and they will reap what they have sown (Galatians 6:7). And for this we can be truly thankful as well—that the evil rule and the deceitful influence of evil sinners will cease (Psalm 104:35). At the same time, we must make certain that we will not fall into the same trap of deception and lose focus, while being more concerned with the world and its sinners than with the preparation of the establishment of God’s Kingdom. Many want to do “good works” in missionary endeavors, but they completely ignore the signs of the times (Matthew 16:2-3). Rather than getting involved in the most important Work on earth—the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom as a witness to all nations (Matthew 24:14)—they concentrate on “helping the poor” by volunteering their time and effort, especially on Thanksgiving, Christmas and on other occasions, while neglecting the weightier matters of God’s Word. Christ made a very important point when He said to someone who did not want to do what He expected of him: “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22).
Following Christ means for us, having His mind (Philippians 2:5) and doing what He said (Luke 6:46). He was filled with the desire to finish the Work—the task which God had given to Him as a human being (John 4:34). We must have the same desire and mindset—to finish our Work of preaching the gospel in these perilous times. Knowing this, we can be truly thankful to God, because without the fulfillment of that all-important prophecy, stating that the gospel must first be published among all nations (Mark 13:10, Authorized Version), Christ could not and would not come back and God’s Kingdom would not be restored.
So how thankful are we? How anxious are we for God’s Kingdom to come? How involved are we in His Work? How diligent are we in doing what we must? Are we praying daily for the blessing and success of God’s Work and for God’s ministry and all those who are participating in the momentous task of fulfilling biblical prophecy to be carried out by His Church (Matthew 28:19-20)? Are we watchful of world events which should motivate us to become more conscious of our duties towards God, including our need for prayer, Bible Study, meditation and occasional fasting, our responsibility of giving God His tithe and offerings, and of God’s command to love Him with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves? If we do this, we fulfill God’s Law and we will not stumble into lawlessness; otherwise, we will be in danger of neglecting “so great a salvation” which has been offered to us (Hebrews 2:3).
