Did you look to the skies last Monday to see the Super / blue moon? I didn’t go on my drive Monday night, but went the next morning and followed the moon as it set. Our house is situated so that when you look in the backyard you see the sun rising and in the front the moon setting which was 7:27 am that day. I got that info off a chart showing dates and times for sun and moon rising and setting. To be able to tell exactly when the sun and moon rises and sets can only be attributed to our creator God. The big boom theory, really? That’s the best those who reject God as creator can come up with! I drove west for a while and watched the moon setting. Then I turned south to go around the country block and on one side of the van (same view as the Cadillac) was the moon setting and the other the sun rising, both hung like pictures in the sky, roughly the same distance from the horizon. It really was a spectacular display. As I said last week, sometimes, though the moon and sun set and rise as they were created to do, there are times like these supermoons and amazing (some more amazing than others) sunrises and sunsets that seem as if God is shouting – wake up and give me praise. Psalm 22:22 “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!” We should be praising and honoring God every day, not just on these special events of God’s creation. Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”    

    Whether you went outside during that full moon or saw some of the spectacular pictures that others had taken, you are accountable before God. Romans 1:18 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Psalm 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” Many have rejected God and the best they can come up with to explain creation is a god particle / big boom, boom theory and refuse to submit to God. Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth,” Isaiah 42:5 “The Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.” Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Ask yourself if you really know and submit to “the Lord the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth?”   

    Even so, people, even those who call themselves Christians, still reject that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and that the earth is not billions of years old. One writer said, “Earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, plus or minus about 50 million years.” That is just humorous. What’s 50 million years? I heard it said one time that they can’t even agree on dating Egyptology. When asked how old the pyramids are, one writer said “It's not a direct approach. There are people coming from a New Age perspective who want the pyramids to be very old, much older than Egyptologists are willing to agree. There are people who want them to be built by extraterrestrials, or inspired by extraterrestrials, or built by a lost civilization whose records are otherwise unknown to us.” So, we are supposed to believe that the universe was created 4.54 billion years ago, and they can’t even agree on 4-5000 years ago. The bottom line is all of this comes down to faith. If you believe in God, then it is by faith. If you believe in a god particle, then it is by faith. But by believing in a god particle, where does that leave you for eternity or even for this present day? Yes, take God out of the picture and you just fade away but leave God in the picture and for this present life Jesus said John 10:10 “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” And for all eternity, John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” Matthew 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Are you really willing to stake your eternal destination on something as ridiculous as a god particle and an explosion theory? We choose to live by faith, one way or the other. One leads to emptiness and the other is to spend eternity with God. 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by faith, not by sight.” Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Intellectually, neither can prove their beliefs. The Christian gives their life to the word of God, the non-Christian gives their life to the words of man. One says there is a heaven and hell and the other says they do not exist. As Paul said when talking about the resurrection of Jesus, 1 Corinthians 15:17 “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” If God does not exist, then we are to be most pitied and our lives are meaningless. BUT, if God does exist and we all stand before Him in the last day, some will hear well done and spend eternity with God, while others will hear depart from me and spend eternity in the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Then you have to ask, who is to be most pitied? If you are placing your hope on God’s word, it will be for this present day and all eternity. If you are placing your hope on man, you have no guarantee for this present day, nor eternity. By the way, if you can’t accept “in the beginning God,” then you will have a hard time believing the rest of the bible. The word that created everything became flesh. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”   

    The problem is that there are many Christians who do not believe God’s word, yet they call themselves Christians. They have come to believe man’s word over God’s word. Not only have they chosen to believe the scientists, but they have also listened to those in the church who deny and distort God’s word. 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” I remember one time when I joined a denomination as a minister, you had to take a course as part of the process. The person teaching the class did not believe in the six-day creation. That I found astounding. When you start deleting scripture for the creation, that also means you will be willing to do it for other parts of the bible. Genesis 2:2 “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” Exodus 20:9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work.” A day has been a day since creation. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.”

    Rejecting God’s word is rebellion and that makes God angry, but God’s anger is a problem for today’s church as most only see God as a God of love and reject the fact that God is a God of wrath and jealousy. Exodus 34:14 “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 32:16 “They made him jealous with their foreign gods (add other gospels) and angered him with their detestable idols.” Joshua said to the people, Joshua 24:19 “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods (add other gospels), he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” Today the church follows a different Jesus and other gospels. This is like the many in church who do not believe there is a hell because they falsely believe a loving God would not send anyone there. The reality is that even though many will not say they do not believe hell exists as some do; they do not live their lives as if hell does exist. Scripture makes it clear that there is a hell, and you will go there if you rebel against God’s word, just as the people in the Old Testament were destroyed by the Assyrians and Babylonians. We still serve the same God. Malachi 3:6 “I the Lord do not change.” If you have bought into those who teach other gospels such as God deals with people differently in different dispensations, then you have been deceived and are following a different Jesus. All throughout scripture when God’s people rebel against him, right from the beginning in the garden the result is the same – destruction, desolation and if you are still alive, captivity. The same has happened with the New Testament. God’s people rebelled, truth was thrown down and the church is desolate because of the abomination that causes desolation. Daniel 8:12 “Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.” By saying that God does not get angry, even if His people rebel against him, does not make it true, as scripture states otherwise. 1 Corinthians 10:6 “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. The church did not pay attention. Jeremiah 7:24 “But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.”

    We have already established that God’s wrath has come upon the church because God’s people, now the church, have rebelled against His word just as Israel and Judah did. The church did not learn from them, ignored the resulting desolation, and even with the assault by our enemies, refuses to turn from their wicked ways and gets further and further away from God’s word. The result of following a different Jesus and other gospels has been the abomination that cause desolation. Daniel warned us, as did Jesus and Paul. Daniel 9:27 “And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Matthew 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” 2 Peter 3:17 “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.” Following the error of the lawless has been happening shortly after the Apostle Paul. Not only do we have the deception of satan, such as doctrines of demons, but he is also masquerading as an angel of light. Mark 13:22 “False messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect,” We also have God bringing delusion upon the church.

    The deception and delusion is very easy to spot if you are aware that it is happening. Just hold scripture up to what you see or don’t see happening in the church. Look at what is being taught and done in the name of the Lord and compare it to scripture. The more you stand on God’s word, the clearer the deception and delusion comes. The more you know truth, the easier it is to see what is false. Ezekiel 22:28 “Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.” Jeremiah 23:14 “They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. 16 They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.”

    The destruction from this abomination that causes desolation has been astronomical, far worse than the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Jesus said if these days were not cut short, no one would survive. Millions have been deceived and are under delusion because the church refuses to turn from its wicked ways and return to God’s word. Zechariah 7:13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty.” People have been dying without ever coming to the truth, yet they think all is well with their souls. They are like those as Paul described who are “2 Timothy 3:7 “always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” The church looks nothing like the church Jesus started (just read and compare) and because of rebellion, the church has felt the wrath of God, yet most continue to give glory and praise as if God is pleased with His people. Because the deception and delusion is so vast in the church, most will hear when it is too late, I don’t know you, away from me. Luke 13:23 Someone asked him (Jesus), “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’” The narrow door does not mean legalism. Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Many hold on to this verse. Romans 10:8 “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” But what Jesus are you worshipping, what Jesus have you declared as Lord and what word are you holding on to? Stop and ponder for a moment that many will try and fail and many just are not even looking for the narrow door. I will be honest with you that I don’t like to think about the fact that so many people have been deceived and deluded and will spend eternity in hell. Each denomination thinks the other is off track, yet they all follow other gospels. To make matters worse, most think until their dying day that they are safe and secure and have nothing to be alarmed by. Just because someone preached at a funeral that the person will be in eternity with God does not mean that they will. Many want their funerals to be called a celebration of life, but will it be eternal life they are celebrating? It is better to make sure of your salvation before that day comes. Yes, there is a good chance you have spent your whole life being deceived and deluded, but if you are still breathing, repent and return to God’s word before it is too late. Most have unknowingly been taught other gospels and followed a different Jesus and will only find out when they stand to be judged. They did not test the spirits as they did not even know the spirits needs to be tested. Jesus talked about a rich man who had died. The rich man said Luke 16:27 “I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

    Jesus walked this earth, healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons and rose from the dead and we have His word and still people refuse to listen and repent. Also, as we talked about earlier, Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge,” but as Paul said Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” As Daniel said Daniel 8:12 “truth was thrown to the ground.” Look at the church in just this one area, although there are many areas where truth has been thrown to the ground. Most have rejected what God plainly says in His word and have accepted homosexuality, even though God says it is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Romans 1:26 “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Even though many churches have accepted all the letters, (LGBTQIA+) God’s word stands. Paul said 1 Corinthians 6:9 “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Homosexuality is not new as we can see with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). Jude 1:7 “In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”

    Even during the life of Paul, the church began to turn away from God’s word. Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Homosexuality is an abomination and should not even be up for discussion in the church. Again, the church has rejected God’s word in many other areas, not just homosexuality. Teaching God’s people God’s word against homosexuality is not hatred. The world can do as it pleases, but the church is not the world. James 4:4 “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” The church must follow God’s word not the words of the world. Many churches have accepted homosexuality and those who have not, rage against it. The first have completely rejected God’s word and the second do not have the power to do anything about it other than rage against it. The problem is that they do not seek the power to do anything about it. Yes, homosexuality and the other letters are an abomination to God as clearly laid out in scripture. The word of God is supposed to be above man’s word, but instead, man’s reasoning, experiences and traditions have nullified God’s word. God’s word says homosexuality is an abomination, tradition, experience and reason say it is okay, so the church rejects God’s word and goes with man’s word. That is rebellion. Ezekiel was shown the abomination that was taking place. NIV Ezekiel 7:4 “I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you.” Other translations say abomination. ESV Ezekiel 7:4 “And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” In Kings we see that 1 Kings 14:24 “There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.” 2 Kings 17:15 “They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

    God’s word will prevail but for now, many in the church have been deceived and deluded by lies. Daniel 7:21 “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.” Instead of repenting, the church came up with their own words they claim as truth because there is no power. As I said, this is not about hatred, but love because this just doesn’t affect this present life, but eternal life Jude 1:22 “Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Even though homosexuality is accepted by the world and many churches, as Paul said, they will not inherit the kingdom of God, even if the church says they will. There will always be someone to tell you what you want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” If the church would return to scripture, here is the power of love available to the church. Paul goes on to say to those who would not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Corinthians 6:11 “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Those simple words “that is what some of you were” is the power the church was supposed to have. Only when the church returns to the word of God and turns from wicked ways will this power once again be available to the church. Paul stood by and gave approval to the murder of Stephen. Here is Paul’s testimony. 1 Timothy 1:12 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” There is still hope that sinners can still be saved because Jesus lives.

    God gave a promise to David that there would always be a remnant of survivors. Every time we se the sun and moon doing as they were created to do, there is hope. Jeremiah 33:19 “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. 22 I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’” Israel and Judah rebelled, and even the remnant went into captivity, but as we will see there was hope for the remnant and there still is hope because of God’s promise to David. As Jesus said no one would survive if God did not step in. Isaiah 1:9 “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” God’s people refused to listen. 2 Kings 21:10 “The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; 15 they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.” Chronicles 36:20 “He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.”

    Due to their rebellion, God’s people ended up in captivity because God was angry. Yes, God gets angry! God first used the Assyrians and then the Babylonians to carry out His wrath. 2 Kings 17:6 “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. 7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.” 16 They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. 18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left,”

    Then the same happened to Judah. 2 Chronicles 36:15 “The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.”

    We still serve the same God and we must follow His word. Because the people did not follow His word, we were told that God used the Assyrians and the Babylonians to carry out His wrath. Jeremiah 50:17 “Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” Isaiah 10:5 “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!” Israel and Judah were almost wiped out by them, but God promised David so there were survivors. These armies were fierce. Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; 9 they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. 10 They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them. 11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty people, whose own strength is their god.” The temple was destroyed, and the survivors were taken captive all because God’s people refused to listen. Jeremiah 7:23 “I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’ 27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.” The same has happened to the church.

    Down through the ages God sends His messenger to warn people to repent and they are mocked, threatened with death and even killed. Jeremiah said Jeremiah 20:7 “I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. 10 I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.” Jeremiah was constantly under threat, but God had given him a promise that if he spoke His word, God would be with him. God said to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1:17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah went on to say, Jeremiah 20:11 “the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. 12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause. 13 Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.” Ezekiel was told the same. Ezekiel 3:7 “the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. 8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. 9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.” 10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. 11 Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.”

    Today the church has not listened to God’s word. The church has replaced the word of God with the words of man, their traditions, their experiences and their reasoning. The church has even accepted doctrines of demons as truth. Man’s traditions, reasoning and experiences should never be placed equal to or above God’s word. Because the church has done this, God has allowed the abomination that causes desolation to decimate the church. God was angry because Isaiah 65:2 “All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations— 3 a people who continually provoke me to my very face.” Isaiah 64:5 “But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.” Yet there is hope if we return to Him! 8 “You, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people. 10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. 12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

   Just as there was still hope for those few survivors taken captive, there is still hope for the church because God will not break His promise to David, even though we do not deserve His great compassion. God’s anger against His people would subside. Isaiah 10:21 “A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. 22 Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. 23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.” That happened to Israel and Judah and now the church, but Isaiah goes on to say, 24 “Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. 25 Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.” Isaiah 12:1 “In that day you will say: “I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

    What has fallen will be rebuilt and our enemies will be defeated. Don’t be deceived by churches with magnificent architecture and impressive buildings, because the reality is they are in ruins spiritually. “The bells rang from the Notre-Dame de Paris at the Olympics Opening Ceremony, a first since the building was nearly destroyed by fire five years ago.” Although it has been restored, it still represents the church in ruins. The buildings are just as Jesus described the Pharisees inside those buildings. Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” But there is hope for the church and remember the church is not a building. Acts 15:16 “After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord.” Ezekiel 35:33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’” Jeremiah 33:11 “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever.” For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:20 “In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.” Ezekiel 11:18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Once again God will dwell among His people. Jeremiah 32:38 “They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Ephesians 2:19 “you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

    Not only will the church be rebuilt, but our enemies will be defeated just as Jesus destroyed the work of the devil. 1 John 3:8 “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” The church was empowered to continue in that work but due to rebellion lost that power and was defeated by the devil instead, just as we were warned. God’s anger will subside and once again the church will be given authority and will be empowered from on High to defeat satan, just as the Assyrians and Babylonians were defeated. Jeremiah 15:11 “The Lord said, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.” Jeremiah 33:26 “For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.’” Jeremiah 31:11 “For the Lord will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. 12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord.” Isaiah 10:12 “When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 For he says: “‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.” Jeremiah 50:18 “Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. 31 “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, “for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. 32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up.” Jeremiah 51:5 “For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. 6 “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves. 24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonian for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord. 36 Therefore this is what the Lord says: “See, I will defend your cause and avenge you.”

    The good news is that God will keep His promise to David. Scattered around the world are His remnant, waiting to be called into the service of the King. No, the remnant are not groups who say they are the remnant, but those who faithfully stand on God’s word. The remnant are those who grieve and lament over what is happening and in the church. As we see throughout scripture, the remnant is a small number of survivors. Just as God promised David, there will be a remnant who will survive the abomination that causes desolation that will be coming to an end. 2 Kings 19:31 “For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Revelation 7:14 “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” We are not waiting for the tribulation to happen way off in the future; it is already here, and millions have died and are dying, completely unaware. The remnant will rise up and like the early church, Acts 1:8 “will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Matthew 24:12 “the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Don’t let love grow cold, stand firm on God’s word. Revelation 2:4 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” The remnant are those who are waiting on God to empower the church once again, who do not become cold or lukewarm, who live by faith and continue to stand firm on God’s word, even when the enemy appears to be victorious. We have this hope. Isaiah 30:20 “Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

    The remnant will rise and go to the ends of the earth doing just as Jesus did, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead and preaching the good news. Jesus told the disciples Luke 24:46 “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” The disciples waited and they were given power and authority at Pentecost to do as Jesus did. Mark 16:15 “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” The church was to continue going out in power and doing just as Jesus did. Once again God will confirm His word with signs just as we see in scripture, just as Jesus did. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.”

    Once again God will turn His face to shine upon the remnant of the church and the church will once again go out in power, proclaiming the name of Jesus. Psalm 135:13 “Your name, Lord, endures forever, your renown, Lord, through all generations. 14 For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.” Even though it looks bleak, there is still hope. Ezra 9:8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.” Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.” Our God will go before us and the church will once again go out in power because God has not forsaken us. Isaiah 41:8 “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, 9 I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 11 “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. 12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. 13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. 14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 50:7 “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! 9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me?” Isaiah 42:5 “This is what God the Lord says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Jeremiah 32:26 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

    God said if you obey me Leviticus 26:12 “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.” God also said if you do not obey me Leviticus 26:17 “I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.” The church has not obeyed just as Israel Judah and the Jews did not obey. We were all told, Jeremiah 11:4 “‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” I answered, “Amen, Lord.” 6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7 From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” 8 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’” Israel and Judah did not listen, the Jews did not listen nor has the church listened. When Jeremiah spoke Jeremiah 37:2 “Neither he (king Zedekiah) nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.” Because God’s people rebelled, God turned his face from His people and Jerusalem was destroyed. Jerusalem was overrun because God’s people refused to listen to His word, just as the church today refuses. As we read earlier the church is filled with abominations. Proverbs 6:16 “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” Because of the church’s rebellion, the glory of God has departed from the church just as the glory departed from the temple. What about you? Are you listening to God’s word? Do you look to the sky and give praise to God and submit your life to Him and turn from your wicked ways? Or do you look and continue to go in the same direction?

    At this point the remnant is waiting for God to turn His face back to the church. Don’t give up. Keep calling out to God. 1 Chronicles 16:34 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 35 Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.” 36 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.” God promised David there would always be a remnant. God also promised that anyone who searched with everything they have would find Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” Jesus said Mark 1:15 “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”

    When the kingdom comes near, power will have returned. As we saw in Ezekiel, the glory would return. Ezekiel 44:4 “I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord, and I fell facedown.” If you are waiting, do not give hope. Put your hope in God’s word. David said Psalm 27:13 “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Isaiah 30:18 “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Jeremiah 31:6 “This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. They will return from the land of the enemy. 17 So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. Your children will return to their own land.” Psalm 102:8 “All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse. 9 For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears 10 because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. 11 My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass. 12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations. 13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come. 14 For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity. 15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. 16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory. 17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea. 18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: 19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, 20 to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.” 21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem 22 when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the Lord. 23 In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days. 24 So I said: “Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations. 25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. 27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end. 28 The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.” Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”