Judgment and World News

Ronald Weinland

November 24, 2018

We’re going to have a follow-up sermon to a series we began back in February that was entitled God’s Kingdom Is Closing In.

This past couple of weeks I’ve not spoken as we had the opportunity to have the Matthew’s visiting from Australia. We also had Audra, and Jeremy, and the Harrell’s here on that one particular weekend as it was primarily for an annual meeting that the corporation of the Church holds year by year, a necessity.

During this time period I didn’t know specifically what kind of a sermon I would be giving today since I had completed a particular series just prior to that, to the Matthew’s arrival, yet there was one subject matter that kept coming up and I figured then that when it was coming up that I’d be focussing on it at a particular moment in time. I just didn’t know when. But it’s about world news and some of the things that are happening in the world since that particular period of time which that particular series was about, and adding information to it.

But anyway, as I began to start this particular organization of this particular sermon here, basically asking what I was to give because I don’t know from time to time what it is unless I’m in a series. Then I’m always excited because I know if there is a part 1 and it’s a series I’m going to have a part 2 and maybe a part 3. I’m always excited about that because it’s very focused then; it’s easier for me to be able to know exactly where it’s headed.

Other times I have to wait until it’s given. In this particular case here that was what was taking place. Again, I knew that we would have a point in time here where we would be addressing world news. I just wasn’t sure if it was going to be this particular Sabbath. So we’re going to do that today in a sermon that’s entitled Judgment and World News.

It wasn’t until Thursday that I had the opportunity again to sit down and begin focussing on this, and something that struck me from the very beginning was how that the period of time looking back I realised that we went into that particular sermon and I thought what was the timing? I don’t normally do this, but I looked at the time from February the 17th when Part 1 was given to the sermon being given today. To me that was a part of knowing what kind of a sermon to give, what was to be given. It’s the same sort of thing I always do because then there are just things that come into the mind that I know how God works and what He gives and what the focus is to be, and I thought, what an incredible thing here: 280 days.

280 days since that series began and this particular sermon today. This is not going to be a series. At least that’s not the intent. I think I’ll be able to get through all this today, what has to be covered. But I thought, what an incredible thing, 280 days, because that should jump out at us, what it means. It’s a number that, again, should be very clear to all of us, should cry out to us of its importance in a prophetic manner concerning prophetic matters if you will.

We first began to learn about the greater importance of 280 days at a period of time after the Apostasy. God began to reveal to us, after the Apostasy of December 17th, 1994, that event that took place 280 days later, exactly 40 Sabbaths later that the son of perdition, the man of sin died. God began to reveal to us at that point in time that it had a lot to do with judgment.

There are still things that we haven’t returned to that we went into in some sermons later on that will come out in time, and I believe in the Millennium but it has to do with time, times, and a half a time as well. That’s divided up as well into periods of judgment, which is incredible. A time, times, and a half a time is 3½ years, 1260 days. There were some who were listening at that particular time who weren’t affiliated with us that wrote in and weren’t very happy about the fact that it sounded like I’d gone off the deep end when I talked about some of that because it’s like, “You should know what time, times, and a half a time is.” Well, yes I do, but there is prophetic material inside that as well about judgment. I’m not going to go into that today, but I look forward to the time that some of that’s going to be revealed in a greater way because God is incredibly organized, if you will, meticulous in timing of events, of things that take place. He reveals things to us over a period of time.

I was thinking this morning about progressive revelation and how blessed we are of all times to be alive today, to be called today, to know what we know today, and to have the understanding that we have been given more than anyone in any period of time in history save Joshua the Christ. Everyone else, as far as the truth is concerned and what God has revealed to the Church over time, it’s incredible what we have, and only because we happen to live at this time, not because of who we are, not because of anything that we’re special. It has nothing to do with anything like that. On the contrary. The reality is because of where we’re living—we live at the end of 6,000 years—and because of a period of time that’s coming God is just preparing the world for what’s to come, the truth that has to be established or given to that particular time so that a transition is not great in the sense of the truth. It just continues on very smoothly, very powerfully so. We are so blessed with what we’ve been given.

So it is with understanding some of this and being able to recognize that there has to be importance in this. I know that there is more to this than what I can even see right now because that’s how God works; He reveals a little bit at a time to us.

So it was from that particular account of the Apostasy and what happened 280 days later that we learned about, more about judgment and prophecy. So how is 280 days important right now from the time that we had that first sermon about God’s Kingdom Closing In up to this sermon beginning today? It’s about world news in large part, but it’s also about the Church and what has taken place within the Church.

We’re going to look at some of the things covered in the series that began forty weeks ago and I want to read some of that to you. I’m just going to read from that Part 1.

“It's hard, yes, nearly impossible for us to grasp all that has gone before us over 6,000 years that has led up to this time now, yet it's good that we should stop to consider that very thing as we strive to better understand where we are now and what is now directly in front of us. Through time God's faithful people have kept their eyes on Him, on God and His word, His promises to them, promises of another life, even everlasting life, promises of a Messiah, a Christ, promises of a new Kingdom that would reign on earth, one that is God's.”

Then we went to Luke 21 and we need to focus on that just a little bit here today. You can turn there if you want to but Luke 21:36 says, Therefore, watch, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Now, most of the history of the Church through Philadelphia and Laodicea the understanding of this was that you were to pray always that you be accounted worthy, and the reality is that’s not what it’s saying at all. It’s not saying that we should be praying to be accounted worthy, in that respect; it is a matter that we are to pray always. We’re to watch, which means to be spiritually on guard, to be spiritually alert, to seek to be of that state of mind. The way that you accomplish that is by praying always, by remaining close to God, by seeking God’s guidance and help in your life, and then if you do those things and you’re watching as you should on a spiritual plane, seeking to worship God in spirit and in truth and to live by all the things He gives you then that purpose is that we might be able to be accounted worthy, obviously, because we’re doing the right thing. It’s because you’re living what you should be living.

So this matter of prayer and watching goes very, very deep for God’s people. We’ve gone through a period of time, and a lot of the message that began back in February had a lot to do with that, as to what we’re to focus upon as a Church, because, candidly, there were people who weren’t watching. Not at all. People who were not praying as they should. They didn’t have a relationship with God as they should have. Instead many of those that I’m speaking of were robbing from God, 1st tithe and 2nd tithe, plus other things of human nature, most of those having to do with that which is on a sexual plane in the sense of the human mind and the drive of the human mind. So we had a lot of people in that situation as well.

God gave us a shaking, in that sense, starting to give a stronger message and a focus that we needed to have to make certain that this is how we’re living our lives, that we are to watch! That message has been there for a long, long time, but we’ve had greater understanding of it since God has drawn together a remnant of people; what that means to watch, to be spiritually alert, to be spiritually on guard. You can’t ever let down. You’ve got to fight for this way of life. You can never let down. You have to work at this. It’s a calling that God has given us to work – to cease from our works, as it talks about in Hebrews, in that respect, and to enter into God’s, to yield our self to what God is doing in our lives because of a calling He’s given to us.

So that doesn’t come easy. The reality is we always have a battle on our hands staring us in the face every morning we look in a mirror. It’s self. That’s where the battle is primarily first and foremost. It’s in how we think. No one makes us think a specific way. We choose to think whatever way we choose to think and that can be a great problem, or if we’re watching and being spiritually alert we can be blessed if we enter into the battle that we’re supposed to be entering into and fighting on a regular basis, fighting against this human nature.

Therefore, watch, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass. So that’s been the message for God’s Church for the past 2,000 years. They were to watch and be spiritually alert, to be praying, to be close to God, to seek to be close to God, to seek God’s guidance and direction and help, correction and whatever in their lives and to be praying always, to be close to Him, obviously, in this process because of a calling, so that individuals would have the opportunity to stand before the Son of Man.

Then backing up in verse 34 (we backed up to that particular verse), and it says, And take heed to yourselves... It’s a warning, take heed to yourselves. That’s powerful when you understand a lot of what’s being said here about watching. We have to take heed to self. We have to be on guard about self as well, in that respect. That’s the big battle right there first and foremost, if we’re not taking heed to ourselves, if we’re not on guard, if we’re not watching self and what self is capable of doing, and understanding how selfish we are as human beings, that that’s just our nature, and therein is the battle. To understand that the carnal human mind apart from God’s spirit, which we have because it didn’t go away at baptism, it doesn’t go away with the impregnation of God’s spirit, it’s still there, and that mind thinks in a specific way. That’s against God; the carnal mind thinks against God. That’s why we’re told to repent, which in Greek literally means “to think differently.” We have to think differently.

We learn those things as God teaches us. But notice what else it says here, and take heed to yourselves, otherwise at any time your hearts can become overcharged with surfeiting... A warning, be careful what you’re capable of doing. Be careful if you’re not praying and being spiritually alert and on guard.

It was brought up at that time then that some translate this meaning as “nauseous from overdrinking,” but has more to do with, “excess, especially in speaking or talking incessantly in an overindulgence of life’s concerns.” We focused on drama because a single word that describes that best is “drama.”

There’s been a lot said in the last 280 days about drama—truly has—and how we’re living our life, God bringing us full circle, if you will, to a point in time of understanding that the opposite of that, of what we should be striving for and live is one of peace, one that produces peace. Because it’s work, it’s work to have peace produced in our lives in how we think and how we respond to God. Drama is easy.

We live in a world right now that’s so stirred up with that in a way that just hasn’t existed like this. It’s because of technology. It’s so easy to have so much drama. If you don’t have enough in your family life, if you don’t have enough on the job and where you’re working, turn on your TV, turn on anything. Facebook – they have learned about Facebook, of what it produces, that it’s not producing happiness in people’s lives. It’s causing problems, mental problems in people’s live, unhappiness multiplied above and beyond the norm. Technology and drama – incredible how they go hand in hand with what’s been happening.

So again, Take heed to yourselves, otherwise at any time your hearts can become overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, drama, in the ways of the world, even escapism, and the cares and anxieties and worries that go along with all this, with anxiety, if you will or not with anxiety but with drama, of this life, and then that day come upon you suddenly. So it’s a warning that we need to keep on guard.

Now, drama 500 years ago in people’s lives, 2,000 years ago in people’s lives, it was a difficult life, but not drama like we know drama today. The world has so changed. We’re at a point where we’re far worse off than what it was like before the flood. Human beings are doing very poorly, truly. So I think of the mercy that God has given, seven more years, and what has it produced? Greater drama, greater evil, far greater. Just seven years the world has gotten much, much, much worse, more dangerous than what it was before.

...and that that day come upon you suddenly. For as a snare, a trap, shall it come on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Again, it applies to individuals through time if they get wrapped up in other things in the world, if they get their eyes off of God. We’ve had vast numbers of people who have been called who were never chosen because they did that very thing. For them this time came upon them. That was a trap for their lives, but if you look at what’s leading up to the end of the age, which this gives a parallel of that, in that respect, of what leads up finally to God’s Kingdom coming, to Joshua the Christ returning, that those things actually intensify through time, especially at the end-time, if you will, and that’s where we find ourselves. So that’s where we find ourselves. So in a respect, one respect, it’s far more meaningful, not just a spiritual matter to learn from, but far more meaningful because this is a reality now for everyone, for the world and for us.

So within the Church we have been going through a time of very intense focus concerning drama and of the need for getting it out of our lives. It ought to be a very negative word, very negative thought to you, all the words that we went through in one sermon that should scream out, “This is drama!” It has no place in God’s Family. It has absolutely no place in God’s Family. It can’t be there. It will not be there, candidly, in God’s Family.

That begins in the Church then to learn more about how dangerous, how bad, how evil it is to participate in it, which I hope and pray that we’ve come to see in a far greater way than ever before, and to realize the solution to that is how we live as a way of peace. You have to work for peace. It doesn’t just happen. That will take away the drama. The more peace you have, the more you work toward having peace, wherever it is in the world, wherever it is in families, wherever it is in the job, wherever it is that you strive to produce peace and work for peace the farther you’re going to get away from drama and the closer you’re going to get to the right kind of thinking God wants us to have as His people.

So again, the Church has been going through a time of intense judgment. We really have. So in some parts some of this has a duality in it because it’s been very much about the Church as God has been helping us to focus on, from Part 1 there, this verse and what it means, this surfeiting, and to be on guard against it. How we get caught up in things in the world in our lives and how we can begin to think and talk and focus on things that aren’t a matter of watching and being alert and praying like we should.

I just wonder sometimes what kind of prayer life do we all have. Do we look to God? Is He a part of our life to where daily He’s in our mind and our thinking? It doesn’t mean you’re spending hours at it. It means is there a relationship there day by day by day, because some people, sometimes people get caught in the physical part of that and not the spiritual. It’s about a relationship with God. It’s about how you think and why you think that way, how you’re thinking toward God and His purpose and His plan in your life.

So again, some of the judgment concerning this past 280 days has indeed been about the Church, of who will be able to continue and who will not. It’s as simple as that. Warning came up pretty strong at the Feast, “This is it. This is your time to repent. This is the time to get things right. This is a time to look at yourself,” and judgment is made. Decisions are made whether you believe it or not. Some out there may not believe that because they still think they’re in the Church, and they’re not. No, the judgment is there. Judgment is being set concerning God’s Church, who can be worked with, who will be worked with to fulfill, to complete now 144,000 – which I don’t know how many that consists of at this point – so that everything will begin, those who will have opportunity to live on into a Millennial period.

Because as you see what was talked about in the very beginning of the sermon here, we are the most blessed, richest, wealthiest people on earth through 6,000 years, and sometimes that’s hard to comprehend or believe but it’s true. Spiritually the wealthiest of any people who have ever lived. You have been given far more to see and to understand about God, His name, His plan, His purpose than Abraham was. And how great was Abraham? You’ve been given far more than what Moses was given. And how great was Moses in God’s plan? That doesn’t mean we’re greater than Moses, nor Abraham, no, on the contrary, it’s just a matter of how incredible it is how blessed we are with how much we’ve been given. It’s astounding!

We are more blessed, in that regard, than all the disciples, the apostles, early apostles, including Paul, for they didn’t know all the things that we know today. They haven’t seen all the things that God has given to us today on a spiritual plane in His Church. How rich are we? So what is the most important to us, those riches or things in the world that we esteem and value?

Because that’s why people get caught up in value, because that’s what they esteem as being valuable to them! They get caught up in it, you know, taking selfies, posting it so that everybody can see how great their life is, and they know they’re living a lie and they’re not happy. There is competition. Who can be the happiest, as it appears on Facebook, at least. I’m using that as a type of spiritual analogy here, if you will, of something that’s a reality of how people think and how people are and they’re not happy. People in God’s Church get caught up in those kinds of things if they’re not careful.

So those who have chosen to worship inside the temple, those truly in the Church, have fared well because they’ve listened. You see, because every one of us has room and ability, and has had through that period of 280 days to address things in our life, to listen, to make changes. Doesn’t matter who we are we all have to focus on what God tells us we should be doing and become more refined as His people. Not everyone has done that. I have some that I have to deal with that are lying in their relationship with God to this day. Not everyone is going to be found out but some are because it’s obvious. There are certain things.

To rob from God, I cannot comprehend. I can’t comprehend thinking that someone allows themselves to use 1st tithe for their own purpose. I cannot comprehend how anyone can think that they can get by with using 2nd tithe for their own purpose, and then that somehow, “Well, I’ll get a tax return or something else is going to come in or I’ll save up more for it toward the end and just keep track of that, but I’ll use it now for ‘this’ or ‘that’ that I need in life, that I just have to have in life right now,” whatever that is. It doesn’t work that way. It’s a mindset toward God.

So though all things aren’t going to come to the surface, judgment is still there. Whether some of this day that are doing that can repent, that’s between them and God, whether God will accept that and allow them to continue on, it’s between them and God. But it’s a pretty strong thing when God sets a period of time for judgment and certain things to take place, and sometimes God just has to say, “No” because that’s the way it is. You just come to a time and if we haven’t listened, if we don’t respond then what are we doing? It’s hard. It’s difficult. Those are the kinds of things I have never enjoyed dealing with as a pastor, as a minister.

So again, those who have chosen to worship inside the temple, those in the Church have fared well because they’ve listened. Great mercy has been extended to us, to those who seek to be in greater unity and oneness with God. What an awesome blessing that whatever stage we’re in, in time, in the Church, that when God gives us those things we listen. I listen! I listen to what I’m preaching! I have to listen to what God gives us as a Church. We all must listen and then make changes in our life, be motivated and moved to make changes in our life to draw closer to God—that’s what this is about—to become more spiritually refined, to grow more. God gives us those opportunities through time. So we grow, we have to grow, we must be growing. We must be producing fruit because when God’s spirit goes out it must produce fruit or something is wrong. God’s spirit cannot be stagnant in our lives. It has to produce fruit. There is no middle ground. There is no straddling the fence. It either produces fruit or there is no fruit.

That’s why that one example of digging around a tree or a vine or whatever you want, it’s the same sort of thing, and dunging it or fertilizing it or whatever has to be done in order for something that’s not producing fruit and before you cut it down, you give it time. One more season to produce fruit. God works with us on a spiritual plane at that way at times and I hope that’s been this period of time, in large part, and I hope it’s not a period of time that’s in front of us, because that would mean another year. But whatever God’s will is and whatever God’s purpose and whatever has to be done, so be it. And if it goes beyond that...? Dig in. But we go forward as God’s people. We always have. So much depends upon us and so much depends on things that are happening in the world, but it’s all coming and it’s all taken shape so incredibly quick.

So again here, incredible that we’re able to grow in a greater unity with God, a greater oneness with God. What more should we want? That’s something we should crave, to be in greater unity and oneness with Him, with His word, to agree, to love what God gives to us, to love His truth.

So again, all this that we’ve been going through in this period of time concerning the Church and addressing some of these things has been a part of watching, as Christ instructed and stated there in Luke 21.

Now, we understand all this, I think, as a whole. Some don’t. Some don’t see it at all. Some are so blind because they’re still doing the same things after all the preaching’s been done. I just shake my head and I think, “How can you be that blind?” But when you’re spiritually blind, you’re spiritually blind, because you’ve made other choices and the choices aren’t God and obedience to God and wanting to be at one with God. It’s something else in the world around you. I feel for people that do that, but I can’t change their lives. We’re all in control of our own lives in our response toward God. We’re all in control of our own thoughts, no one else is. That’s why drama, it’s no one else’s fault. It’s only our own. No one can make us unhappy except self. No one can make us angry except self. We allow it. Why? Well, that’s where growth comes from. You have to search deep and fight hard.

There is also a judgment upon the world that is of even greater importance right now because as the Church has been focusing upon listening to God and watching in spirit and truth the world has not been listening, and instead is falling into a deeper spirit of slumber with callous carelessness in its disregard for peace, civility toward others and/or any care whatsoever about anything that God might have to say about this world. That’s incredible to understand. It doesn’t matter, you know, we could be out there on every TV station, we could be out there throughout the airwaves around the world, have it much larger than what it was during the time of Mr. Armstrong, you know what? People have come a long way since that period of time in the sense of how far away from God the world has gone and how deep this callousness, this slumber is, this willing blindness. It’s startling, because this is on a very physical plane in the world around us today. What we have gone through is on a spiritual plane, but what they’re going through is not. There is a spirit element there, obviously, because of a spirit world there, but people have choices to respond and how they respond and how bad people get determines how much worse it can become, and they’ve become much worse, if you understand what I’m saying.

So over the past 40 weeks we’ve been experiencing an exercising of God’s judgment upon His Church, to more fully give it a final cleansing, focus, and preparation for His Son’s return. There was a period of 40 days of judgment executed by God that led to the destruction of most of mankind at one time, talking about 40 days, if you remember that. The reason I’m bringing this up is so you can understand there are two kinds of things that can take place here when it comes to God executing certain kind of judgment. I think of that period of judgment, that most of the world, obviously, had been judged that it was over with for them, but there were others who were judged that were on the ark, that stayed on the ark, that God saved.

That’s in large part a part of what we’ve been going through because decisions and choices have been made concerning the 144,000 who can be worked with, who will be worked with, and that’s speeding forward very fast, and then others who have the opportunity of being able to continue on and live in a new age. Those are all awesome blessings, incredible things to experience in life. And sadly we have people out there that aren’t going to be able to experience that. Large numbers, candidly. Well, I don’t even want to go there, but anyway.

So also, again, over the past 280 days there has been a judgment exercised by God that is a reflection of the fact that although God has extended great mercy to mankind people have become more hardened and their listening more deaf. Now, God knew what was going to happen all along anyway no matter what happened within the Church, because everything first and foremost is about the Church. But for God to grant more mercy and more time is an awesome thing for this world, but the world can’t hear it. The world will only get worse and worse and worse because of governments, because of technology. If it weren’t for the fact that God’s going to intervene and stop what’s coming we have no hope. This earth, this world, seriously, we’d destroy it. Thank God He has a plan.

So there are some news articles we’re going to go through because the hearing of people has become more hardened. I can’t help but think of Pharaoh and what happened to him as different things took place around them. People just get so set in their ways they can become more evil in their thinking, more vicious in their thinking. That’s what people are doing. It’s getting really nasty out there and it’s beginning to get people concerned. It really is.

There are some articles here that I’m going to be reading today and talking about. There is one, especially; I got to hand it to the guy on a physical plane. I realize there are times that God actually helps people in the world to do things, to write things, to say things because prophetic things come alive. There are scriptures that talk about some of that as well, “Who can help but prophesy?” You see certain things happening and it’s like if you really see it for what it really is, “Who can help but prophesy,” of what’s going to happen next. That’s a part of where we are in thinking about some of this.

So I’m going to read a few things here that are on the economy. There are so many articles. I can’t believe all that’s happened in the last 280 days in the news, a progression of events. I don’t have time to go through so many of the things that are there. I’m going to basically hit two primary areas today in what we look at and what we’ll review here in part, but just to think where we were back then. Because I think of those articles that I read back then and I think of where we are now, and there’s a big difference, how fast things are going, where we’ve come.

Here is one entitled (that I’m going to begin with, that says so much in one regard): The United States Of Empire: "We're Getting Close To The End Now"[1]. I don’t think this individual writing this has any idea just how powerful what he had to say is. What is being stated here is incredible because it’s a very good synopsis of what’s taken place and what he’s saying. Whether he really believes it or not I don’t know. Maybe he’s doing it to try to warn people? Maybe he deeply believes it? I don’t know. But this is an economic kind of a writing here, of why it’s being addressed here. Talking about the economy, I should say. In large part this publication goes into things that have to do with the world and the economy and things that are happening here, but they had this particular article here that they printed.

This individual says: “We’re getting close to the end now. Can you feel it?” Amazing! “Can you feel it?” Because as a whole the world can’t. People in this country don’t. People around the world as a whole really don’t. Some are beginning to feel it more and more and that’s what’s amazing here, that there are certain things that are happening now, articles being written, things being said that weren’t being said a year ago. People’s thoughts weren’t in the same place but now they are.

“Can you feel it?  I do.  It’s in the news, on the streets, and in your face every day. You can’t tune it out anymore, even if you wanted to.” Awesome! “There are great pivot points in history, and we’ve arrived at one.” More than he knows. We’re at a pivot point all right, the end of one age to the beginning of a new one, and these things have to come to pass. “The United States, ruptured by a thousand grievance groups, torn by shadowy agencies drunk on a gross excess of power...” Couldn’t say it better. Some are afraid to say it, some aren’t. Some are trying to address some of it and some are trying to shut them up, mock them and make fun of them. “...robbed blind by oligarchs and their treasonous henchmen, and decimated by frivolous wars of choice...”

Now, some might think this is a little over the top, that this guy has really gone too far in what he’s saying because people like to hold on to this...well, this slumber thing. It’s so much easier to sleep it off or slumber a little bit and this political correctness and things that have to be stated, that’s just if you say certain things that are too true and use certain words, just the fact that he used the word “oligarch,” it’s like some are going to tune him out right then, say, “You are a nut!” Really! There are people who think that way, yet he’s addressing things in language to try to shake people up, to try to sober them up to some of the realities of what’s going on.

“...and decimated by frivolous wars of choice...” There are wars of choice. Many countries, including this one, have chosen various kinds of wars to engage in for a purpose. When to strike at various countries, how hard to strike, and everything else, even trying to manipulate certain kind of governments, prop some up and then they all of a sudden turn against us and have weapons of mass destruction (supposedly), and that didn’t work. All the lying that goes on within some of the secret agencies, and yet who really wants to address those things because they’re so out of control and they are so powerful. Those who speak out sometimes, candidly, they don’t live too long or their lives are so decimated in other means, by other agencies.

Anyway, going on here: “...and decimated by frivolous wars of choice, has finally come to a point where the end begins in earnest. The center isn’t holding… indeed, finding a center is no longer even conceivable. We are the schizophrenic nation, bound by no societal norms, constrained by no religion, with no shared sense of history, myth, language, art, philosophy, music, or culture, rushing toward an uncertain future fueled by nothing more than easy money, hubris” which means excessive pride, arrogance, “and sheer momentum.” There is a lot said there, there really is, that’s very true.

“There comes a time when hard choices must be made...when it is no longer possible to remain aloof or amused, because the barbarians have arrived at the gate.” Now, again I think of different ones out here, the different ones especially when it comes to “political correctness” and “don’t rock the boat” and “be careful what you say and how you say it,” and for someone to say something like this he’s already been written off by a large percentage of the population – just in that one sentence alone, again.

Dropping on down the article, farther down: “We are now Thelma and Louise.... We are on cruise control, happily speeding towards the cliff, and few seem to notice that our not so distant future involves bankruptcy, totalitarianism, and/or nuclear annihilation.”

He goes on to say farther down:  “The ‘Defense’ Department, ‘Homeland’ Security, big pharma, big oil, big education, civil rights groups, blacks, Indians, Jews, the Deep State, government workers, labor unions, Neocons, Populists, fundamentalist Christians, atheists, pro life and pro death advocates, environmentalists, lawyers, homosexuals, women, Millenials, Baby Boomers, blue collar/white collar, illegal aliens... the list goes on and on, but the point is that the conflicting agendas of these disparate groups have been irreconcilable for some time. The difference today is that we are de facto at war with each other, and whether it is a war of words or of actual combat doesn’t matter at the moment. What matters is that we no longer communicate, and when that happens it is easy to demonize the other side. Violence is never far behind ignorance.”

And there is a lot of ignorance out there. I marvel how people go to polls and they vote. They have no idea. Some of the larger portions of those who vote, they have no idea of what’s going on in the world. They have no idea about the ones they vote for. They have no idea of what’s taking place. It’s pathetic. It’s sick what’s taking place in this world and the ignorance that exists, willingly so.

He goes on to say: “I am writing this from the bar at the Intercontinental Hotel in Vienna, Austria. I have seen with my own eyes the inundation of Europe with an influx of hostile aliens bent on the destruction of Old Christendom...” No, I won’t go there. “...yet I have some hope for the eastern European countries because they have finally recognized the threat and are working to neutralize it. Foreign malcontents can never be successfully integrated into a civilized society because they don’t even intend to try; they intend to conquer their host instead. Yet even though our own discontents are domestic for the most part, we have a much harder row to hoe than Old Europe because our own “invaders” are well entrenched and have been for decades, all the way up to the highest levels of government. That there are signs Austria is finally waking up is a good thing, but it serves to illustrate the folly of expecting the hostile cultures within our own country to get along with each other without rupturing the republic. Indeed, that republic died long ago, and it has been replaced by a metastasizing mass of amorphous humanity called the American Empire, and it is at war with itself and consuming itself from within.”

It is. It is, and people aren’t aware. They’re blind to what’s taking place, what we’re doing to ourselves as a nation, as a people.

Anyway, I thought, how incredible. It’s prophetic. It’s prophecy crying out, in essence, as to what’s taking place, as to where everything is going, and yet they don’t really grasp to the degree it is.

Another article. I’m going to just have several articles here. This is going back to October, late October: “Global Banking Stocks Are Crashing Hard – Just Like They Did In 2008”[2] And who’s hearing about those kinds of things that are taking place and what kind of struggles that are taking place in the world? Instead you hear nice cheery stories of how great things are. I’m even beginning to be a little suspicious about how great this Thanksgiving shopping period is. The malls aren’t filled with people like I thought they would be, but yet I’m hearing that they are. Hmmm, what do people choose to believe? Who’s telling the stories?

So the question is asked here at the beginning of this article: "Fortress balance sheets?"...  "It's different this time"... "Greatest economy ever." See, these are things that are thrown out. Then it goes on to say: “If all of that is true, then why are the stocks of the most systemically important banks in the world collapsing? The banking collapse is leading global stocks lower - probably not coincidentally as global central bank balance sheets contract...”

The article continues by quoting an economist’s comments about all this, and then it goes on to say here: “...if this reminds you of 2008, it should, because that is precisely what we witnessed back then. Banking stocks collapsed as fear gripped the marketplace, and ultimately many large global banks had to be bailed out either directly or indirectly by their national governments as they failed one after another. The health of the banking system is absolutely paramount, because the flow of money is our economic lifeblood. When the flow of money tightens up during a credit crunch, the consequences can be rapid and dramatic just like we witnessed in 2008.”

“So let’s keep a very close eye on banking stocks.  Global systemically important bank stocks surged in the aftermath of Trump’s victory in 2016, but now they are absolutely plunging.  They are now down a whopping 27 percent from the peak, and that puts them solidly in bear market territory.”

“U.S. banking stocks are not officially in bear market territory yet, but they are getting close.” Doesn’t take much. Doesn’t take much time for things to happen so quickly.

Another heading here: “European Banks Crushed, Crushed, Crushed.”

[3]“I wish we didn't have a global economic system that was so dependent on the ‘too big to fail’ banks, but we do. If they aren't healthy, nobody is going to be healthy for long, and it is starting to look and feel a whole lot like 2008.” I can’t tell you how often you read these things, about the comparisons they’re making and some showing that it’s actually far worse than that, other things that led up to that.

Another article here entitled: “World markets on brink: Economic crisis to hit US, Germany, China hardest, Moody's says”[4] It goes on and talks about some of this, stating that: “Germany, Japan, South Korea, the US and China are among those who will be hit hardest next year, according to the Moody’s report” that this individual is quoting here. So, again, different economists and what they have to say and warnings on the horizon here.

Another one: “Foreigners Dump US Treasuries As They Liquidate A Record Amount Of US Stocks”[5] “Earlier this week, DoubleLine's Jeff Gundlach held his latest webcast with investors in which he warned that as a result of rising hedging costs, US Treasury bonds have become increasingly unattractive to foreign buyers.” It goes on to show here, you know, if you understand how some things are tied together and how that the debt of this country is held up, and you see what other countries are doing, it all ties together very powerfully so. When it starts to bad ripple, what’s going to happen? Well, it’s not a pretty picture.

It goes on to say: “This is also why, as the next chart from Gundlach showed, foreign holdings of US Treasuries have been declining in recent years, and dropped to just over 36% as a percentage of total holdings, the lowest in over a decade, as domestic holdings of US paper have risen to just shy of 50%, and near all time highs.” It gives a lot of charts and so forth.

Goes on to say: “Chinese holdings of U.S. Treasuries declined for a fourth month.... Despite the drop, China remained the biggest foreign creditor to the U.S....” And you think, this is not a happy thing that’s going on right now between China and the U.S., and it’s not over with by a long shot. When things get really bad and there are trade wars they turn into wars. That’s been the history of this world as far as economies are concerned. “...China remained the biggest foreign creditor to the U.S., followed by Japan whose Treasury holdings also dropped ... the lowest since 2011.”

“Investors have been searching for clues whether China is dumping its vast holding of U.S. Treasuries to retaliate against U.S. tariffs, though Beijing has given no indication it’s doing so... Of course, instead of selling Treasuries, China may have decided to hold on to its reserves and allow the Yuan to depreciate against the USD...” So they’re trying to figure out what’s going on? What are they doing over there? Why are they doing it? Well, they’re going to find out pretty soon.

It goes on to say: “Not everyone was a seller...” I love how some of this is written. “...the infamous Belgium, host of Euroclear, added $10 billion to $164.7BN, likely working on behalf of some unknown foreign entity...” You realize that sometimes there are, and especially goes through that particular area, someone is pumping up things (because it’s not real), so someone, some “unknown foreign entity.” This has happened before many of times to make something look different than what it really is. It’s kind of a dig here, in one respect, but it’s a lot more important. I don’t know if they know but there is a country especially that does a lot of this kind of thing and it goes through other countries then and makes it look like these other countries are propping up the dollar or the stock market. No, we play games. Governments play game and eventually it catches up with them.

It goes on to say, again here, that likely some foreign entity, “...while Saudi Arabia added another $6.6BN, bringing its total to a record $176.1BN, perhaps in hopes of showing Trump just what a good friend of the US it is.” Think nations do things like that? Yeah.

“The bottom line: Trump told the world he doesn't need its generosity to either fund the US deficit or prop up stocks, and according to recent data, the world has taken up Trump on his dare, and has been actively liquidating US securities.”

It isn’t so much of what he said, in the one respect in that comment there, but what they’re doing. The reality is that’s what it’s coming down to but people have to weigh it out. Just like China, if you start dumping too fast or too much at one time there is a rippling effect. They try to balance the thing the best they can for their own benefit, but you can’t do that forever. It’s walking a tightrope and it just takes one little thing. We’re so close to that one little thing.

Going on: “The Outlook For The Global Economy Has Deteriorated”: Oil, Copper And Lumber Are All Telling Us The Next Economic Downturn Is Here”[6] This was the 19th, so these are recent articles. I’ll jump into this, farther into it. There is: “The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday that while US demand for oil has been ‘very robust,’ demand in Europe and developed Asian countries ‘continues to be relatively weak.’ The IEA also warned of a ‘slowdown’ in demand in developing nations such as India, Brazil and Argentina caused by high oil prices, weak currencies and deteriorating economic activity.... ‘The outlook for the global economy has deteriorated,’ the IEA wrote.”

“Meanwhile, the price of copper has been declining for quite some time now.  The price of copper also fell substantially just before the last recession, and many analysts are pointing out that ‘Dr. Copper’ is now waving a red flag once again…”

“The message of weakening demand on the oil front was reinforced by the falling price of copper. The base metal is often referred to as ‘Dr. Copper’ on its presumed ability to forecast the peaks and troughs of business cycles since it is used in different areas of the economy such as homes, factories and electricity generation. Copper has served as a leading indicator of both recessions and economic booms.”

“The price of lumber is a ‘third witness’ that indicates that big trouble is looming.”

“Last month, lumber dropped more than 10 percent, and that was the biggest monthly drop that we have seen in more than 7 years… In October, prices for softwood lumber in the U.S. dropped 10.3% – the largest decline since May 2011, according to the Producer Price Index...” And blah, blah, blah.

Going on: “If oil, copper and lumber are all telling us the same thing simultaneously, don’t you think that we should be listening?” The reality is people aren’t. Instead, Thanksgiving is great; people are shopping more than they did last year so this is all great. And the economy? Everything is going great! People play games.

Going on: “The ironic thing is that Americans are less concerned about another crisis than they have been at any point since 2008...” This is amazing what people are writing! I’ll read that again. After giving all this information and all the things here that I have skipped over as well, he says: “The ironic thing is that Americans are less concerned about another crisis than they have been at any point since 2008 at a time when they should be more focused on getting prepared than ever.”

“Global economic activity is slowing down, and things are shifting very rapidly now.  The weather is already getting very cold, the mood of the nation is very dark, and it would only take a very small push to send us completely tumbling over the edge.”

That’s the point. There are some who see that we’re on the brink. But who believes it? Because we’re told other stories. If you want to call it something, you can talk about fake news, there is a lot of that in the world and everybody participates to one degree or another in it.

I like the part of the heading of this one here: “Welcome to the G-20 from Hell”[7] “World leaders wrestle with a maelstrom of complex, burning issues as they prepare for November 30 summit.” I don’t know how many of you know there is a summit coming, the G-20, and some of that that’s taking place. It’s not going to be happy times.

“The G-20 in Buenos Aires on November 30 could set the world on fire – perhaps literally.” That’s amazing! People are saying things like this! You couldn’t read articles like this a year ago, two years ago, ten years ago. Incredible, what people are saying, and I’ve just read a few.

I want to get back in my notes, make sure I make comment here. So again, what can happen quickly at any moment in time is that which will lead into a great war, and what’s going to take place first is the matter of the economy. That’s the thing that pushes everything else over the edge, causes nations to act. That’s what leads to the war. It’s the things that happen that they’re not going to put up with anymore that lead people into confrontation, that lead to what’s coming.

So we’re just that close and at any time God can allow, can give the okay. Because He’s not going to allow anything to happen of that nature until it’s exactly the exact moment in time. So whether it be this period, whether it be another year (which I hope and pray it’s not), or whatever it is, it’s so close it’s not even funny. It’s going to happen very powerfully so because all the stage has been set. That’s what that sermon was about at the Feast.

Then there is the matter of 10 nations that will take front stage in a final world war. I thought it’d be good to go back and review a few of those things again one more time because it’s amazing what we’re able to watch and what we’re able to witness. People have been asking questions about it and I’ve told them to wait because I knew a sermon would be coming at some point in time; it just happened to be today to address a little bit of this. But I think it’s good to go back and read some of these things, like that which is back here in Daniel 2 and be reminded of some of the things that are stated, because they just cry out more and more. They mean more and more the farther we go along.

Some of the articles I’m going to be reading next really bring this out because of what they’re saying. It’s almost as though they’re speaking in prophetic terms of thing you couldn’t read a few months back, a year ago or two years ago, and now they’re out there and they’re pinpointing these things. I saw one article here recently, it talked about iron and clay. You think, awesome! Referring to Europe. You think, why are they using those kinds of terms? Well, there is a reason why they’re using them because they’re seeing something that was written long ago that they don’t really believe, but they see something that fits it so they quote various things on occasion. Incredible!

Daniel 2:41—And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, because, you see, it’s not any part of the statue except the last part of it. It’s the last part of it. We’re at the last part of the statute that is going to be fully destroyed, anything to do with Babylon, anything to do with all the things of false government in the world. This is the final phase of it, what’s at the bottom. This is what’s at the bottom, the feet, the toes, clay and iron mixed together.

It says here, again, of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided. It’s amazing when you start, when you read some of these articles and what you see different ones of different countries here that are cooperating to a certain point, and then not. It’s amazing because this cries out, what it says here, how something could be written like this that’s so pointed, so powerful.

...yet, goes on, yet in it there shall be the strength of iron, even as you saw the iron mixed with the miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly brittle. Nothing describes Europe now better than that. And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they... Now, this is amazing, some of what’s being said here, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

Now, if you look at what’s happening in Europe and what has been happening for some time now there is another translation that really kind of hits this on the head a lot better, and I’m going to read that: “So the people will be a mixture and will not remain united any more than iron mixes with clay.” That’s really what it’s saying. There is a kind of mixture there, whether it be with the influx of people that have come in. If you want to look at Great Britain today it is so different than what it was fifty years ago. It is so changed. You can’t recognize London, of what it was many years back. Saw that change from the time I went to college there to later visits twenty and thirty years later. Incredible. It’s not the same place and neither is the nation. So much of Europe is like that because of what has taken place and what they have allowed to take place. But not just that, but even if you look at each kind of country that is there there are vast differences, even within single countries.

Take Belgium; it’s a mixture of people’s there, primarily two, I guess, maybe I’m wrong about that. I’ll get an email or two along that probably. But anyway, but you have the French influence to the south and you have more the Flemish area to the north there. I think I got that right. Anyway, and some other things in between there because of how it’s set up for a part of Europe right now and some of the governing that’s taking place and that which has come into Brussels. Even the governments they’ve had there of mass confusion.

But you get different people in different areas and they’re vastly different. Look at the different countries there. There is such an incredible difference in how they can work together as a union and have different parts in a cooperation, if you will, of an economic union, is a marvel in some respects because there are such great differences. That’s basically what it’s talking about. It’s like the iron and clay. There is strength there but there is incredible weakness just because of its makeup.

That’s why it brings out here about this terminology here that’s used, this mixing of the seed of men. Differences. Big differences in different areas and that it can’t remain united.

Then verse 44—And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the Kingdom shall not be left to others, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall ever stand forever. Thank God. Thankfully we’re there at that time where we’re going to see and be able to witness an incredible change from a period of 6,000 years of absolute chaos, confusion, and babble to one of one government, of one God, of truth. We cannot even imagine what it can become.

For as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. It’ll happen, and it’s going to happen soon in our time.

But I marvel at the toes here and the ten countries and what’s pictured by some of that and what’s stated, and that’s why I’m going to go into some of these articles now. Because I don’t know how to describe this, but I just marvel. I’m almost speechless at times when I’ve gone through and read some of these things because it’s like all these things just crying out in such a powerful way where we are and what is set in the world already.

“PESCO...” I read this one here. This one I’m reading again because I want to start it with this article here because this was part of this information (not this specific article) was spoken of in that particular series. It’s about Europe uniting from the Lisbon treaty and having the writing in there that they’ve agreed upon to come to a point of establishing an army. This is what this is about in large part.

“PESCO: EU army one step closer after defense pact agreement”[8] Now, this was clear back in November of last year. So we’re talking about a year ago almost exactly. So when this came out here it was discussing some of those things. I’m going to read part of it. “The prospect of a European army has gained momentum following a historic agreement by 25 member states. The new defense cooperation PESCO could reduce the EU's reliance on NATO.”

There are some battles going on there. That’s why the U.S. and certain ones are not happy with seeing Europe doing what it’s doing because here you have this establishment of NATO and then you have this establishment of something else that’s developing and working, and what takes precedent. Well, the reality is one will take over the other. Amazing. It’s clear; the handwriting is on the wall.

So it goes on to say, again, “Twenty-five European member states on Monday formally agreed to establish a European Union defense union, known as PESCO. The Permanent Structured Cooperation...” is what it’s short for here.

But I want to jump forward now to a particular article in June because within this group it spoke of nine EU countries that were going to be a part. “Nine EU members,” this particular article here just states, “Nine EU states sign off on joint military intervention force.”[9] So again, this article is on June the 25th.

“Nine EU member states have agreed to establish a European military force for rapid deployment in times of crisis, an initiative which has won the backing of the UK as it seeks to maintain defence ties after Brexit.” Dropping down a little bit more here: “Ministers from France, Germany, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain, and Portugal signed a letter of intent in Luxembourg on Monday.” So that’s nine. “Since the election of its new government, Italy has backtracked on its initial support, but Rome has not ruled out the country’s future involvement.”

So there are things that can change at any moment and any time. The reality is look at what we’re reading about. After all this time now it’s actually being discussed. It’s actually getting down to certain numbers that people are talking about and so questions come up, “Well, what about the UK?” Well, we’ll come back to that as we go on here.

Here is one on the 12th of this month. “10 European States have created a new defense coalition.” The primary heading here is “New Powerful Defence Alliance Changes European Security Landscape.”[10] “It was launched on June 25,” that’s why I read part of that article, “and held its first historic meeting in Paris on Nov.7 to start thrashing out details of how the force will operate and welcome Finland as the tenth participant. All founding nations are EU members, including Great Britain, which is to leave the bloc in March, 2019.”

If we are in a particular timeframe they won’t be out of the bloc by the time things begin because certain things have to happen well before a certain period of time, before what we would know as the Wave Sheaf period, Passover period. That’s why you really need to back up about somewhere in the vicinity of 60 days, in that period of time there. If things haven’t begun through that period of time we’re going to have another year ahead of us. That’s just a reality of life. It can’t all begin that late.

So by what it’s saying here, in that respect, because of when Britain would normally be exiting, if they do, they wouldn’t be able to be out by that time so they would be a part of something if they continue to agree upon what they’re doing. Some have been asking, “Well, can Great Britain be a part of it?” Yeah, everything’s changed. It’s different than 2008-2012. There is a reality of life there of things that have changed very drastically, and yeah, Ephraim can be, France, Belgium, Netherlands? Hey, what about them? Well, just because they’re Israelite nations of times past, of descendants of certain tribes doesn’t keep them from being a part of something that’s going to take place, just because it’s a revival, in one respect, of the Roman Empire, if you will. Because basically, that’s how it’s given in prophecy, and the reality is, yes, they can be because things have changed.

There was a time when Joseph wouldn’t have been a part of it, but Great Britain is no longer Great Britain like it was in times past. Even this nation here, they’re all going to be punished, but how they’re going to be punished and why certain things have to come down to an end-time like they do here, the nations that God established, a great commonwealth of nations, God established it and God takes it away. This nation, the greatest nation the world has ever known and God takes that away. He takes away His favor, takes away His help. So can they participate? Well, go back to the time of Napoleon. How strong was France involved, Reuben, other nations, some of them partially at times and some of the people’s partially at times, it may not fully.

So we just have to realize how far mankind has gone away from God and how God judges these matters. So absolutely they can be a part of it now.

So again here, they are welcoming Finland as the tenth participant and if one drops out, you know, Italy is still back there, Rome is still there. When it says Rome and talking about the Italian government there are things about Rome that we know a little differently. There is a nation there that can be counted as a nation. Will it be? I don’t know. Doubtful, but.

Anyway, going on: “Led by France, the European Initiative Intervention (EII) comprises the UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Finland to cooperate in the planning, analysis of new military and humanitarian crises, and possible joint activities in response to contingencies. It is planned to have a common budget.” So they’re just barely at the discussion of some of these things, but they have agreed that this is what they have now and there is some that’s been allotted to this and things that they’re participating in.

It goes on to say here (incredible here): “French President Macron said he wanted a ‘real European army’ because ‘We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.’” So sometimes people have wondered how could Europe ever choose to do some of the things that are prophesied? There it is. It’s already there. They’re already saying the things that we knew would come to pass. Like I said, you couldn’t read this a year ago or twelve years ago, or whatever, and now all of a sudden here it is, the reality of thinking.

That’s the important thing to understand. It’s a matter of their thinking and why they’re thinking this way. It has to do because with what God has allowed in a particular nation, propped up, established, set, if you will, because God involves Himself in various things. He raises up leaders and take them down. There is a purpose for why things are happening the way they are, why the world is turning against this country in a way that it hasn’t to this degree before – especially Europe, and even Great Britain.

“French President Macron said he wanted a ‘real European army’ because ‘we have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.’” He went on to say, “’When I see President Trump announcing that he’s quitting a major disarmament treaty which was formed after the 1980’s Euro-missile crisis that hit Europe, who is the main victim? Europe and its security,’” So they’re concerned. They know that when it comes right down to it who are they going to rely on? Who can they rely on, especially after a treaty like this has been broken? “We have to rely on ourselves.” That’s what’s drawing them closer together. That’s what’s pulling them faster together. That’s what’s going to bring them to a point in time where they can all say, “Yes, do it!” Then an hour later they’ll regret it. It’s too late. Once you start it, it’s over with. It’s started. If you start the ball rolling you may have some regrets later on but it’s too late if you do it. You know, when you push a button it’s too late.

“...he told Europe 1 in his first radio interview since becoming president. Emmanuel Macron believes that ‘Europe can ensure its own protection against Russia and even, under an unpredictable President Donald Trump.’” That’s how their thinking. That’s their thinking, he’s unpredictable. What’s he going to do next? How is he going to respond to this or that? They have to, they feel they have to take certain things under their control. I can understand that. If you live there, if you were part of that, you would be thinking the same way. It’s just human nature.

So it goes on to say here: “That’s how the US is viewed [the thinking] in Europe now. Not a defender but rather a threat.” Awesome! See, that little nicety, nicety thing that was taking place between two leaders at one point, between France and the United States? Done a fast flip-flop. It’s not so nicety nice anymore. Some really nasty things are being said back and forth because they feel they have to take a stand.

Going on: “The EU defense integration moves ahead at frustratingly slow pace. The 2017 ‘Permanent Structured Cooperation’ (PESCO) defense agreement brought together 25 of the 28 armed forces. The UK, Denmark, and Malta have decided to opt out of the voluntary system.” But the UK is, again, part of it, at the overall system. “The EU budget does not allocate money for creation of ‘European Army.’ Besides, there are deep divisions...” Clay and iron.

There was one article that was kind of interesting. It was one of the opponents of Macron was talking about what Macron is trying to do is give its power of its nuclear weapons to Germany. They have a lot of nuclear weapons in France and they’re a part of this system. They really wouldn’t even need the nuclear weapons that are there from NATO but there’s coming a time when they can have all them too. They can just take them. Just like Turkey threatened to do. Incredible, what’s taking place.

Going on: “Besides, there are deep divisions between EU members states,” isn’t that what we just read? Daniel. Deep divisions. “...with different groups formed inside the Union. What sounds good on paper may have little relation to real life.”

Ah, maybe some of these things don’t affect you in the same way. I like different kinds of news articles and being able to read certain things and see where we are, see what’s taking place. To me this is just mind boggling indeed, because here it is.

Another one: “Merkel, Macron pledge to take joint ‘responsibility’ for Europe’s future”[11] “Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron met in Berlin Sunday to discuss defense, the eurozone and more, pledging to continue Franco-German collaboration on strengthening the ‘foundation’ of Europe.” That’s kind of mind boggling in itself, just reading that, “Franco-German.” Anyway, this was on the 18th.

Going on with the article: “This responsibility means building something, building a truly sovereign Europe and building a strong European Union on this sovereignty,” the French president said… The German and French leaders’ meeting on Germany’s so-called people’s day of mourning to commemorate war victims...” I thought, how amazing. If you look at the different times they meet and some of the things that happen, it’s oftentimes on occasions like this, which I think even one article brings out another one. But anyway, this war victim’s day that is observed there in Germany. I think that’s the only place it was observed. It’s a national day of mourning that pays homage to all the victims of war and tyranny, basically.

Going on: “Merkel and Macron also discussed the concept of a European army, a week after Macron’s comments about such a concept sparked repeated criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump… Merkel said she and Macron agree that Europe is at a ‘crossroads’ in terms of what role it should play in the world.” Here is a quote from Merkel: “As those who were born after the war, we are responsible for what we have truly learned,” she said. “As [Macron] said, we are finding our way on many new tasks, and we also want to do this together.” So, incredible that they’re siding as strongly as they are.

Another article: “Merkel Urges EU to Give up Sovereignty to Brussels 'in Orderly Manner.'”[12]

Another one: “Macron: ‘More sovereignty’ for Europe needed to prevent global ‘chaos.’”[13]

See, they see themselves in a position of wanting to take a role that’s large, that’s as large as the United States or larger, as large as China and Russia, and so forth. Thinking. That’s where they are.

Going on in this article: “Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have used a series of war anniversaries to project unity as they push back against populist and nationalist forces in Europe and Trump’s isolationist ‘America First’ stance.” See, there it is again, it’s their thinking. It’s what we need to understand, how do they think? Why are they being pushed in this corner? Why do they feel like they’re being pushed into a corner? Why are they going to do what they’re going to do? It’s all in writing now.

Going on: “‘Europe, and within it the Franco-German couple, have the obligation not to let the world slip into chaos and to guide it on the road to peace,’ Macron told the German parliament. ‘That’s why Europe must be stronger… and win more sovereignty,’ he said at a ceremony to honor the victims of past wars and dictatorships.”

Going farther down: “He said Europe must not ‘become a plaything of great powers...’” See, because they feel like they’re being manipulated and they’re sick and tired of it – most of all this country. They really are. They’ve had it up to here. That’s why they’re taking control for themselves. That’s what they see they have to do. They feel their being forced to do it.

So again, “He said Europe must not ‘become a plaything of great powers, must assume greater responsibility for its security and its defence, and must not accept a subordinate role in world politics.’”

Under “European army: The German leader reiterated that she backed Macron’s proposal for a future European army as a symbol of a united continent – an idea that has raised Trump’s hackles. Last week the American president mocked the plan by tweeting that ‘it was Germany in World Wars One & Two – How did that work out for France?’” See, so what did that accomplish? Well, it drew them closer together, Merkel and Macron. We can understand both sides, of why they say some of the things they say or why they think the way they do, but again, it’s about their thinking and why they think the way they do. They’ve had it. They feel like they’ve been manipulated all this time. NATO, they feel, they truly feel that is a manipulation and control over them, which, in large part, it has been, and they’re tired of it.

“But German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen insisted Sunday that a joint military force would need not just common equipment and training but also ‘the political will to resolutely defend European interests when a conflict breaks out.’” It only takes one thing and they can all agree and say yes. Amazing.

Going on: “Macron’s Berlin visit came a week after world leaders met in Paris to commemorate the end of World War I a century ago. Macron has repeatedly invoked the war’s horrors to drive home the message that rising nationalism is again destabilising the world.”

It’s amazing what’s taking place here, how things are being brought together. Maybe some of you don’t feel the same way. Just like numbers, I enjoy numbers. Some people don’t like numbers. But even news articles like this I find immensely interesting and inspiring at this time because everything that we were told so long ago when I first came into God’s Church and Mr. Armstrong talked about 10 nations, to think we’re living in a time now where they’re talking about 10 nations, and not only that their attitudes are changing and they’re saying things that show why they’re turning against this nation? That’s profound. They’re ready!

That’s why we talked about at the Feast the stage is set. It’s already set. It’s just a matter of some incident. The economy is going to have so much of a play in this. Whenever something takes place. There’s going to be one thing that sparks it all as so often happens and thankfully then we’ll be in a final countdown as to what takes place. That’s why God speed that day.

Another one. This articles is entitled “Euro Throne.” I mean, these articles are dumbfounding, just what some of the headlines and things that they’re saying. “Europe should become EMPIRE to compete with China and US, says French minister after Trump rubbishes calls for EU army”[14] That’s awesome! I hope you understand that’s awesome, that such thoughts, such thinking exists and that they’re speaking openly about such things because it’s all a part of prophetic things that are coming together very quickly.

It goes on to say here: “FRANCE'S finance minister has called for the EU to become a powerful new ‘empire’ to rival the US and China in an interview which will infuriate Donald Trump.” So what powers are they? It’s Europe, China and Russia, U.S. Awesome! “Bruno Le Maire’s comments come after the French President said Europe must be strong enough to defend itself in the future - words the US president called ‘insulting.’” “Le Maire controversial calls for a new superstate came as he backed Emnanuel Macron’s call for a ‘real European army.’ And he suggested Brussels should go one even further and establish itself as an ‘empire.’” The last revival. To use such words? Awesome! “‘It's about Europe having to become a kind of Empire, as China is. And how the US is," the French finance minister stated...”

Farther down in the article... Again, I can’t stress enough here how these things have to do with their thinking and how fast it’s changed and been molded into something different that is going to fulfill specific things that take place here. We don’t have much time. I don’t care if it’s a few months or a year, whatever, but we’re there. Incredible!

It says, “The French president lashed Mr Trump for deciding to pull the US out of a nuclear treaty with Russia that was signed during the Cold War. He raged: ‘When I see President Trump announcing that he’s quitting a major disarmament treaty which was formed after the 1980’s euro-missile crisis that hit Europe, who is the main victim?’” Again, reading it again: “‘Europe and its security.’ Mr. Macron made the comments in a radio interview from the town of Verdun - the site of a major WW1 battle - as he tours the Western Front ahead of Remembrance Day. They were welcomed by the EU Commission, which said it has already put the wheels in motion for the eventual creation of a euro army.”

“A spokesman beamed: ‘If there is a Commission that has put forward the need for a meaningful defence identity for the EU, it’s this Commission.’ President Macron has been consistently putting forward this narrative for a stronger Europe that empowers and protects. ‘This is totally, totally compatible with our work and all contributions from our EU leaders, and especially from President Macron, are very much welcome.’”

“But the remarks were savaged by former British Army commanders, who said the revelations showed why the UK must pull out of the EU’s defence plans. Major General Julian Thompson, who led British forces in the Falklands, told The Sun: ‘The EU Commission now openly admits it has created the preamble to an EU army. The UK is in that preamble and risks being kept in it. Ministers must withdraw or risk losing forever whole chunks of the UK’s democratic control over defence.’” Well, like many other things they’ve pretty much lost it.

Anyway, spent time going through articles. I don’t necessarily like to spend that much time going through certain things, but you know what? They’re prophecy. They’re prophetic things that are showing us where we are and what’s happened in a short period of time. Not too many weeks; 40 week already and look what’s taken place from articles we read then to articles we’re reading now. They’re night and day in the sense of how far along things have come in that short length of time.

So again, I conclude this sermon by saying go back to Luke and what it says about being watchful and praying always, to draw closer to God, to become more at one with God, because the battle is never over. For those who have listened and continue to go forward and have been seeking to change and do just that, you’re blessed. But we have too many who are still out in the courtyard and there is nothing I can do about it because there are certain things that God is going to deal with Himself and certain things He’s brought to the surface that I’ll still have to deal with myself.

But please understand, those of you who haven’t repented by this point in time, God is merciful, but you know what? There’s a time when even God has to say no. So you think you’re one of those people? I’d be fasting. I’d be praying. I’d be crying out to God because God is a very merciful God. It’s in God’s hands.

[1] https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-21/united-states-empire-were-getting-close-end-now

[2] https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-23/global-banking-stocks-are-crashing-hard-just-they-did-2008

[3] https://seekingalpha.com/article/4213711-global-banking-stocks-crashing-hard-just-like-2008?page=1

[4] https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1042569/global-financial-crash-latest-stock-market-wall-street-dollar-dow

[5] https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-16/foreigners-dump-us-treasuries-they-liquidate-record-amount-us-stocks

[6] https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-19/outlook-global-economy-has-deteriorated-oil-copper-lumber-signal-next-economic

[7] http://www.atimes.com/article/welcome-to-the-g-20-from-hell/

[8] https://www.dw.com/en/pesco-eu-army-one-step-closer-after-defense-pact-agreement/a-41741828

[9] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/25/nine-eu-states-to-sign-off-on-joint-military-intervention-force

[10] https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/11/11/new-powerful-defense-alliance-changes-european-security-landscape.html

[11] https://www.politico.eu/article/angela-merkel-emmanuel-macron-pledge-to-take-joint-responsibility-for-europes-future/

[12]https://sputniknews.com/europe/201811221070048712-merkel-sovereignty-europe/

[13] https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/macron-more-sovereignty-for-europe-needed-to-prevent-global-chaos/

[14] https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7721886/europe-empire-compete-china-us-french-minister/

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Footnotes