Here in Australia we are seeing a multitude of powerful New Age enterprises
being brought to the public in a
disguised, "innocent" form. The Goodwill Games will be here in Ad 2000,
a New Age friendship games which is
nothing but a global-unity platform, with top New World Order leaders,
such as Ted Turner, running the show.
The International Friendship Force is here as well, a happy little
cultural interaction scheme run by New Age
leaders, Ted Turner again and Jimmy Carter. This is to mention just
two new propaganda programs we have
discovered here. The extent of the New Age take-over in ordinary, Images-stream
life is impossible to gauge, too
gigantic to deal with in fact.
The result of the unity, friendship organisations will be seen soon
enough. I spoke to a lady serving me coffee in
a shop who is a member of Turner's Friendship Force, she sees Turner
and Carter as her leaders, her loved
friends. How easy it will be for her to embrace the united world under
leaders like these when the time comes,
she already feels she knows and trusts them! (More about these two
organisations in our next Despatch, in
September).
HOW TO HAVE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE OF GRIEF ABOUT THE WORLD. Are you like
me, are you grieved,
you seem to be able to do very little to alert people to the coming
Tribulation and New Age Unity of One World?
Apostasy is a juggernaut which rolls over the majority, squashing them
flat. Yet, the mighty stand that the
fundamental Christians are taking as they contend for the Faith of
God's Word is a sight for sore and red eyes!
How many groups and individuals are standing firm will never be known
until eternity, but the ones we do know
about thrill our souls. To be counted amongst their number is great
honour indeed. To be a fundamental
Christian, one who trusts in ALL the Bible, and to see brothers and
sisters across the world by Internet keep the
precious Faith is a mighty experience. A life-time experience, one
which has never been topped. God preserve
you all, make His face to shine upon you, and grant you peace.
The Bible gives us instructions on how we can have peace in the midst
of a time of trial and global upheaval. I
want to have more of this peace myself, and have to admit that it eludes
me sometimes. That the ball is in my
court, and I must play it actively, that is obvious.
The beloved passage Philippians 4:4-8 has all the answers about this
peace of God, and how God wants us to
respond in our hearts, so that we will not become worried and anxious
as we tumble on down the New Age
slope toward the deep gully of the Tribulation. Already we Christians
are being trapped in the "Slough of
Despond", let's come out!
Philippians 4:4-7.
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your
moderation be known unto all men. The Lord
[is] at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things [are]
honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure,
whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever
things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there
be] any praise, think on these things. 9 Those
things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen
in me, do: and the God of peace shall
be with you.
ELABORATE, thrilling promises those. How do we enter into, and stay
in, the "peace OF God" which is a
different thing altogether from "peace WITH God", which is the possession
of all who have put their trust in the
Saviour. Going over carefully each verse, and acting upon those verses
at all times, will give us the answer.
Verse 4. Rejoice IN THE LORD - ALWAY. The misery-minded Christian, sometimes
this is myself, can do
nothing better than realise that the Lord is with them in every trial,
every situation. We never have to face life or
death alone, HE is there beside us and in us, HE is holding us in His
arms. Concentrate on what is happening
around you in the world, instead of the Lord, and your emotional state
will plummet. Speak to the Lord in prayer
when you are low, just sit quietly in His Presence and thank Him for
His great love. We must DO it, for He is with
us.
Verse 5. Your "moderation" should be made know to all people you come
in contact with, the "Lord is at hand."
The Rapture could happen at any time, soon your trial will be over,
but also your chance to stand firm in faith in
an evil world. No chance to do that soon, we will be in glory. What
does "moderation" mean here? It is the word
"epieikeia" which means "sweet reasonableness." It is not sweetly reasonable
to be in a state of despair over
the world and its lost citizens, it is not sweet reasonableness to
be anxious over your family and your own life.
Why? Because the Bible tells us God will meet all our need and care
for us and our concerns. Being sweetly
reasonable is having the nature so changed that stress is handed over
to the Lord as soon as it comes into our
minds. It is only reasonable to be at peace when the Almighty has made
us joint heirs with Christ, and is
handling all our affairs. Consider Abraham's patience in trying circumstances,
he should have been under
pressure, but he was not, he was at peace in the Lord - Hebrews 6:15,
where the verb is "makrothumeo," which
means patience in regard to antagonistic persons and difficulties with
them (also James 5:7,8). We too might
endure the same, but we shall inherit the promise from God. Let US
be patient.
Verse 6. If we are to be in constant peace, the peace of God, we must
not carry our burdens and problems
ourselves. God yearns for us to have no care or anxiety at all, NONE!
He wants us to "let our requests be made
known" to Him, why? because He wants to give us the requests we make
of Him. Be encouraged to ASK God
for those things that matter so terribly to you. Some Christians cannot
sleep at night for worrying about their
burdens. We all go through such periods, but this should never be.
Let us cast off this lack of faith and hope and
obey God's Word, "be careful (anxious, worried) for nothing." Let your
requests be made know to God, humbly
requesting your Heavenly Father to care for those worrying matters,
and giving thanksgiving before time for the
answer, because God is sure to meet your needs.
Verse 7. If God reigns in our lives, and His promises are believed,
if we have patience to await God's timing, if
we commit all things to Him, then we will have "the peace of God which
passeth all understanding." What
happens to our minds, emotions and hearts? They will stay in peace
as long as we roll our burdens onto God,
the mind and heart will be kept in Christ Jesus.
Verse 8. How contrary the mind is, and here lies the battle-field! The
mind is where the war will be lost or won,
as far as peace goes, and indeed everywhere else as well. What the
mind thinks, that is what we become, day
by day. Verse 8 is filled with topics, if you will, on which we should
"think" or meditate upon. As we read the
Scriptures we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, and our
spirits are caused to spiritually grow
(Romans 12:,2). If our minds are filled with the things of God, then
we will not fall prey to distress, fear, anxiety
and hopelessness. Here are the "topics" God tells us to think about,
"whatsoever things are":
TRUE. The lies of the enemy should not be accepted, either in doctrine
or in world-view. Don't allow your minds
to be absorbed with how terrible the events happening today are, think
on how God will soon enough make all
things new, and Christ will reign on earth. Go to the Word when your
imagination is running riot about how bad
the future will surely be, and hope again in the promises of God.
HONEST. God is honest, Satan is dishonest. Think on the honour of God,
and have reverence for His future
plans, and immediate care of all that pertains to you and your loved
ones.
JUST. Be JUST as you think on yourself and the things around you. Our
minds can "think on" the unfair
behaviour of others, and how well we behaved in comparison. If we think
justly, we will see the truth about
ourselves, and become more compassionate toward others. When we are
just we will see the truth about the
many, many blessings we have, the wonderful opportunities for service
for the Lord, the love we have from God
every day. We will be thinking justly, not selfishly, we will think
and act according to God's will, as shown in the
Word.
PURE. Here is where the modern world drags many a child of God down!
The mind is attacked constantly by
impure thoughts, coming from worldly people we encounter or work with;
coming from magazines, radio,
television, books, and the social immorality of the 1990s. Just because
the mind is attacked, does not mean
that we have sinned. It is only when the mind lingers and enjoys these
seductive thoughts from the enemy that
we sin. Think on "whatsoever things" that are pure, and we will keep
the peace of God.
LOVELY. There is so much that can fill the mind which is unlovely. Thoughts
of killings, child abuse, famine
victims, cruelty to animals, the inhumanity of man to man. If we allow
our minds to be swept away with these
thoughts and contemplation, our peace will go. Think on the lovely
things of God, let your heart be made tender
towards the Lord. We can not bear the whole world on our own shoulders,
draw away and think on lovely
spiritual things.
OF GOOD REPORT. Think on "whatsoever things" that give praise to the
Lord Jesus Christ. There are masses
of things we can think about that are of ill-report, the news is full
of them, think about instead the glory of how
good is the news of the Gospel, and how wonderful is the work of the
Holy Spirit right now in our midst. Look at
every answer to prayer, all the trials God has already taken you out
of, His goodness in the land of the living, and
how He will lead you home to Himself very soon. Praise God, for He
is worthy of all praise. And you will have
peace, the peace of God.
IF THERE BE ANY VIRTUE, ANY PRAISE. If there be anything that is righteous,
virtuous, praise-worthy, let your
mind dwell on these matters and blessings, and God's Peace will be
with you. There ARE none, you might think
in your heart, if you only knew my situation! We learnt of a dear brother
in the Lord recently who had the most
horrifying event happen to him that we have ever heard of happening
to a child of God. This man is a preacher,
who loves the Lord dearly, and he said in a sermon one week before
for the tragedy that overtook him, that God
could be counted upon to bring His people through any event, no matter
how evil or trying. One week later this
man came home to his family, and he found his wife and son (aged sixteen)
lying dead on the floor, knifed to
death. He called the police and they searched the grounds, and found
the other son (aged nineteen) in the
garden, still with the knife in his hand!
Yes, the son had murdered his mother and brother, why we do not know
yet. Did the father lie down and give up
in his extreme grief and bewilderment? No, he is now in another country
ministering to others, preaching the
Word. Just weeks after the tragedy! GOD met his need, GOD had not deserted
him, and neither will he desert
you. This is a wicked world, no doubt, but think on the wonders of
what God has done for us lost sinners, and
what He is planning up ahead. Meditate on God's glorious truths,and
praise Him for His Presence with us
through our trials - and be grateful.
Will renewed minds and encouragement result? Yes, and so we will have
the peace of God that passeth all
understanding, which will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The God of peace be with you, beloved of the Lord.
W. B. Howard ...Editor of Despatch
.
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