If you have your Bibles please turn to Zechariah 14 verse 2 as we talk today about the Israeli and PLO Peace Accord, "HOPE OR HOAX?" Is recent weeks, Israeli prime minister (Yic-sak Ra-bean) and PLO chairman (Ya-shur Air-a-fat) shook hands on the south lawn of the White House as their representative prepared to sign the historic Israeli/PLO peace accord. The world cheered for joy. The 3,000 assembled on the south lawn of the White House applauded and ..... some wept. Prime minister (Yic-sak Ra-bean) whose face is etched with the memories of every Israeli-Arab war, said, "Enough of blood and enough of tears, enough."
It was a desperate and sincere cry from the soul of a seasoned warrior, for world peace.
The peace accord gives the Palestinians self rule. It calls for the withdrawal of the Israeli troops from Judea and Samaria, that is what the press calls the West Bank. Sierra wants to control Gollen Heights and both sides want to control Jerusalem.
Listen to what I'm about to say. The 3rd World War is going to start over who controls the city of Jerusalem and the war started that day on the White House lawn. Consider that this peace accord will give the PLO a width of 9 miles from one side of Israel to the other. It will give the Syrians every military advantage from the Gollen Heights. It will make it very possible for the Palestinians to assemble an army within the West Bank that can attack Jerusalem within minutes.
I know Israel's history. I know Israel's geography and I know Bible prophecy concerning Israel. The signing of this peace accord is not the dawning of hope. It is a cruel hoax. It will give birth to the 3rd world war. It will force Israel in the near future to use its vast nuclear power for its very survival. It will initiate in the Middle East the bloodiest scene we have ever seen to this point in time.
This is not my opinion. This is the clear teaching of the prophets. As the prophets paint the portrait of tomorrow, I want you to hear it from the Word of God, because we are on the count down for Armageddon and we are in a foot race for the coming of the Son of Man. If you listen closely, you can hear the thundering hoof beats of the 4 horseman of the Apocalypse racing toward the battle of Armageddon in the pages that I'm going to speak of today from the prophets of Israel.
Zechariah 14:2, "For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle." (Zec 14:2-3)
Father God, today in the Word of God let us see that You are in charge of what's happening in this world and that we are racing toward the soon appearing of our glorious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Glory. And all of God's children said, "Praise the Lord."
Let me briefly give you the historic background. Since 1948 5 brutal wars have been fought over the control of Jerusalem, over the control of the Gollen Heights and over the West Bank. And now with one swing of the pen, what was purchased in a river of blood, has been given away in what President Clinton has called "a great gamble for peace."
This peace accord will last until (Ya-shur Air-a-fat) can drain the American taxpayers for billions of US dollars to rebuild the Palestinian state. He comes to America seeking money because the Arab nations have cut him off. His first objective is our tax money and at the same time get control of the city of Jerusalem.
This accord will last until Syria gains full control of the Gollan Heights and can formulate an attack against Jerusalem. It will last until the Palestinians can infiltrate the West Bank with an invincible army that can attack Jerusalem within minutes.
I repeat, what happened on the White House lawn just a few weeks ago was the first major birth pain of the 3rd World War. It will result in the fulfillment of Ezekiel's vision in chapters 38 and 39. It will result in the 7 years peace accord that Israel will sign with the Anti-christ. But what you saw a few weeks ago was the ticking of the clock, beginning to reach the last minute of the midnight hour in the dispensation of grace.
Now here's the sequence; Until a few weeks ago we had no idea how the Arab nations could possibly gain confidence and military positions strong enough to attack Israel. Now we know. It was simply given to them in a peace accord.
The Bible says, "When they shall cry peace, peace, then comes sudden destruction." In Ezekiel 38 & 39 Ezekiel sees a vast Arab coalition of nations coming against Israel as record in Ezekiel 38 & 9.
He says, "Thou shall ascend and come like a storm." These armies are going to cover the land of Israel like a cloud. In Ezekiel 38 and 13, America and the nations of the west see this vast military armada coming against Jerusalem and they ask, and this in the King James Version; "Are you come to take a spoil" Translation, "Do you intend to do harm?" Doesn't that sound like our state department?
Now when is this battle going to happen? E gave the dates in chapter 38 and 16, "It shall be in the latter days". Say that with me, "It shall be in the latter days." So when in that? The Bible gives a series of prophetic proofs, of evidence that the terminal generation is alive and well. And when these 10 major prophetic signs, line up in the same generation --- YOU'RE THE GENERATION THAT IS GOING TO SEE THE COMING OF THE SON OF GOD.
I'm going to prove to you from the biblical text that we are that generation and Jesus could be here before lunch today.
The FIRST SIGN is the increase of knowledge on the earth. Daniel the 12 chapter the 4th verse says; ""But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."" -- Dan 12:4
That last phrase literally means "and there shall be a knowledge explosion. And never before has there been such an increase in knowledge as there has been this century. And what have we done with all of this knowledge? We have produced a generation dying with AIDS. A generation addicted to drugs. A generation of homosexuals. Murders, drive by shootings, where rape and violence and social crimes are so rampant that the media gets tired reporting it.
WHY? Because knowledge without God only produces an intellectual barbarian. We are the generation that always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life" The Bible says, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"
I have a solution for those of you living in the hell of any kind of addiction -- Jesus Christ is the answer. He is the liberator. He is the source of peace. He can turn your sorrow into joy.
We have had the knowledge explosion. Secondly. The invention of nuclear weapons and warfare fulfilled a very difficult prophetic phrase. Before the birth of nuclear warfare there was a prophetic mystery here and it involves Zachariah 14:12 that says,"And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." (Zec 14:12)
Literally that says that whatever happens to the body happens so quick that the corpse cannot hit the ground before the body is consumed. And there was no explanation for that 50 years ago. And then there was the invention of the nuclear bomb.
The 2nd verse is 2 Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." (2 Pet 3:10)
That was a mystery. But then let me describe the blast of a nuclear bomb. The second of the blast there is a great noise, then everything, people, buildings, etc., for miles in all directions are atomized. For the next 8 miles every thing catches on fire instantaneously. A hell on earth. Then radiation breaks down at 35 miles and then for 100 years the earth is good for nothing.
The next prophetic sign is the gathering of the Russian Jews back to Israel. You have seen that in recent months. Jeremiah 23:7 says, ""Therefore, behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,'" (Jer 23:7) That's Exodus 1.
""but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own land."" (Jer 23:8) That's Exodus 2.
You have seen the repatriation of Russian Jews as a might hand of God to reach in behind the Iron Curtain and get His children out. The falling of the Berlin Wall was the hand of God so that the Russian Jews could get out of Russia and get back home. And I pray that all Jews will get out of there because the Iron Curtain will go back up and it will be anti-semitic and hateful toward every Jewish person.
The next prophetic sign is the temple is no longer under the control of the Gentile people. Luke 21:24 says, ""And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24)
Psalm 102:16 says, "For the LORD shall build up Jerusalem; He shall appear in His glory." (Psa 102:16)
The 6 day war was not an ordinary war, it was a miracle. It was David verses Goliath in which God gave to the Jewish people the city of Jerusalem again. God was saying to the world, it is my time to bless Israel. It is my time to build up Zion.
Zephaniah 3:16 says, "In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness,..." (Zep 3:16- 17)
God gets emotional over Jerusalem. Why? Because that's the home town of His Messiah, Jesus. And the Antichrist wants it for his son. There is a clash between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness and I assure you God is going to have the final word in the Middle East.
The next sign is the invention of international television. When I was a child this verse was a mystery. In the book of Revelation, in describing the two witnesses that will be slain in the streets of Jerusalem and lay there 3 days and then the Bible says, "and the whole world shall see them in one hour." We had no idea how the whole world could see 2 dead people in one hour. Then came television and then international television. In 1950 that was not possible, but today it is.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:14; ""And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,(listen to this) and then the end will come." (Mat 24:14)
It hasn't been that long that all countries have allowed Christian television to be broadcast and as that happens, the end will come. It is soon and very soon that Jesus Christ is coming again.
The next sign is famine, pestilence and earthquakes, evidence that we are the terminal generation. Matthew 24:7 verifies these 3 dimensions. In spite of America's ability to produce all this food we are now experiencing the worse famines the world has ever seen. You see it on nightly television. People literally starving to death. It is the fulfillment of the Word of God.
The He says a pestilence. A pestilence is defined as a sickness for which there is no healing. Now there is AIDS. There is no cure.
Then earthquakes. In the 15th century there were 115 earthquakes. In the 16th there were 253. In the 17th there were 378. In the 18th century there were 640. In the 19th century there were 2,119. In the 20th century we've had so many earthquakes, so fast, we can hardly keep record of them. We have a department now trying to predict where the next big one is going to take place. Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen, there will be a BIG ONE and it is going to reshape the earth and it is going to be by the design of God Almighty.
Earthquakes are God's signature. God used an earthquake at the crucifixion to split the vail of the temple and to release the people from their graves. God used an earthquake at the resurrection as He rolled the stone away. God used an earthquake to set Paul and Silas free from the jail. It was the New Testament version of the Jail House Rock. God will announce the coming of His Son with a BIG ONE.
Then the last sign. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man." These 3 Bible signs mark the days of Noah. There is eating and drinking, speaking of gluttony. There will be buying and selling, speaking of materialism. And thirdly, there was a homosexual community that surrounded Lot's house demanding his male guest.
Ladies and Gentlemen, there is in the streets of America an aggressive homosexual society that demands you turn over your children to them. The homosexual are out of the closet it's time for the church of Jesus Christ to come out of the closet and stand up for Jesus and speak up and let the world know that we stand on the Word of God and we will never accept this.
Commentators have been asking why would the Arabs ever try to defeat Israel, they will try because on Sept. 13 of this year they won at the peace table what they have not been able to win on the battle field for 40 years. They now have strategic advantage right down the throat of Israel, before the fight ever starts.
After the Arab coalition is defeated, the antichrist, who is Satan's messiah, will come out of the European common market, and believe me the common market will come together, and it will have a common currency and it will survive this economic crisis and become the most powerful economic force on the face of the earth.
The time is at hand. There is only one way to avoid what happens next and that is to be a child of God. Listen to this, you are the only generation on the face of the earth that has ever seen the knowledge explosion, the rebirth of Israel, Jerusalem no longer under the control of the Gentiles, famines, pestilence and earthquakes, international television, the birth of the nuclear era,--you are the only generation to see those things happen and at the same time you are the generation that is going to see the coming of Jesus Christ with your eyes. (pause)
It is not a matter of if you will bow before Jesus, it is only a matter of when you bow. You can come to receive Jesus today as Lord and Savior and meet Him as a friend or you can wait until judgment day and meet Him as your Judge. BUT I ASSURE YOU, YOU WILL BOW AND CONFESS THAT HE IS THE LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.
Will you stand and will you bow your heads now as we pray.
