Greetings;
What is the truth concerning the ‘End Times’ and the apocalypse of Jesus Christ? Is the present uprising of Islamic terrorism a sign of the end? Are the economic times a sign concerning Christ and His purposes in the earth? What does ‘apocalypse’ really mean and what should we believe concerning the future of the world?
This course will set covenant foundations in your life concerning what the Bible truly says in regard to the future of the world and the increasing power of Christ’s kingdom and His will being done in the nations.
Jesus didn’t tell us to pray that we would escape the world, but that His kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. If you are looking to rule and reign in the advancing kingdom of Christ, I am beginning an course at Christ Life Training next week. It begins on Monday July, 6th at 6:30pm Pacific Coast Time. It is an in class and live stream course so you can join us on line or take it via video and audio as the course goes on. I have facilitated this course several times and it is always a life changer. The Holy Spirit will reveal Himself powerful during this course. We have experienced the presence of God in the midst of life-changing revelation time and time again in this presentation. For further info and registration go to: http://christlifetraining.com/end-time-realities-a-level/
Today I want to remind us all of some things that I posted three years ago. I want to address the distraction of natural sight and experiences in the midst of our age. Jesus said that the kingdom of God doesn’t come with signs that can be observed. The NKJ translation states that the kingdom of God does not come by observation, in other words, what we can see or hear in the natural world around us has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. The prophet Isaiah foretold that Jesus Christ as the Head and Christ the Body would not make judgments by what can be naturally seen or heard (Isa. 11:3).
Luke 17:20, 21 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
In the parable of the tares and the wheat Jesus revealed that the end of the age is not based upon the events of the world, but the fruit of harvest. Harvest is the standard by which the kingdom of God is measured. It is not measured by good or evil in the world. The harvest of every age is filled with that which is bound to the fruitless testimonies of the world and that which reveals the substance of food and seed for the future generations as the testimony of God.
Matthew 13:39 …harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.
If we look at things in the natural world we can become distracted from the true issues of the kingdom of God. The things that we naturally see and hear in the world are not the means to measure the current season of the kingdom of God. We can’t possibly know what time of the day it is if we are looking at the night. Things in the world are of the night and the things of the God’s kingdom of only found in the light.
Let me preset a general overview of some key world events in the past few centuries. If I did an overview of the centuries preceding this past three the story would read the same and even more extreme at times. I have by no means included everything that happened. My intent is to merely paint a picture of how things are in the world outside of Christ and that catastrophic events and human unrest are not indicators of what is happening in the kingdom of God.
In the 1700’s there were numerous wars and conflicts. In the first decade much of Europe was involved in the War of Spanish Succession. In the second decade there were numerous Indian uprisings in America with the slaughter of many Indians and many American settlers. In the third decade the Persian Safari dynasty fell. In the fourth century The War of the Polish Succession ended. Russia and Austria were at war with Turkey by the close of the decade. The War of Polish Succession between France and Austria ended. In the fifth decade Prussia attacked Austria that resulted in war in Europe with the succession of Austria. The sixth decade saw the Seven Years War with Prussia and Britain in conflict with France, Austria, and Russia. In the sixth decade an Industrial Revolution began that would continue for seventy years. The seventh decade brought about the British expedition against Cuba where they seized Havana from Spain. Many years of tensions and conflicts with America and Britain brought about the American Revolution in the eighth decade of the century. In Europe there was the war of Bavarian Succession from Prussia and Austria. In the ninth decade the French Revolution happened. The final decade there were conflicts with Spain in the Caribbean and France stormed the Netherlands to create a dependent Dutch republic. During this century some 60 million Europeans died of Smallpox disease. It is believed that 90 to 95 percent of the Native American population died of this disease between 16th and the 19th Centuries.
The 1800’s began with the Battles of Trafalgar and Austerlitz in Europe. The first decade transitioned to the second decade with the Peninsular War in Spain. The second decade began in with the British-American War and the defeat of Napoleon in the “Battle of the Nations”. The third decade began with the Spanish Revolution and the Greek War of Independence against Turkish rule. Russia was also at war with Turkey. In the fourth decade there was a Revolution in France and Britain was involved in the China Opium War. The fifth decade brought about war between the US and Mexico. California and New Mexico ceded to the United States. In Europe the Communist Manifesto was published. At the end of the decade Mexico City was captured by U.S. troops. In the middle of the century twelve million people died of the Bubonic Plague in China. In the sixth decade Russia fought against Turkey, Britain, France and Sardinia in the Crimean War. Britain and China were also at war. In the seventh decade America entered in to a Civil War after many years of conflict and pressures involving slavery and political division. The Paraguayan War took as many as 1.2 million lives. In the eighth decade there was the Franco-Persian War. In South America there was the War of the Pacific involving Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. The ninth decade was a decade of peace with a Triple Alliance formed between Germany, Austria, and Italy. In the final decade of the 1800’s there was Civil War in Chile and in America the Spanish-American War.
The 1900’s opened with some revolutionary breakthroughs with the first airplane flight by the Wright brothers, Henry Ford’s first Model-T, and the discovery of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. It also had hardships like the Boxer Rebellion in China and the San Francisco Earthquake. In the second decade the First Word War occurred and a Russian Revolution took place. The Mexican Revolution took as many as 2 million lives. The Prohibition movement began in America. In this decade the Titanic struck an iceberg and sunk. The Spanish flu killed millions around the world. The next decade brought about an era of seeming prosperity and freedom with speakeasies, expressive clothing, the Charleston dance, and jazz music. There were many gangster conflicts in America and the Prohibition movement spawned criminal activities and created lots of tension. The 1930’s brought about the Great Depression. Economic collapse and a massive drought took its toll in America and in the world. The Nazis came into power in Germany and a persecution of Jews commenced with concentration camps for the purpose of genocide. In America there was the notorious crime spree of Bonnie and Clyde and the imprisonment of Al Capone. In the next decade there was the Second World War. Nazi death camps murdered millions of Jews. The Cold War with Russia began. The 1950’s gained a reputation as the Golden Age with inventions of Color TV, polio vaccine, Disneyland, and Elvis Pressley. The Korean conflict brought America and other nations into the activities of war again. In America segregation was ruled illegal and racial tensions began to escalate. In the 1960’s there were racial riots and a sexual revolution. Numerous political tensions escalated with the Vietnam War, a peace movement, a drug abuse revolution, and a civil rights movement marked with numerous racial riots. In Europe the Berlin Wall was built. President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King were all assassinated in this decade. Russia and the U.S. entered into a race for space and America put the first man on the moon. At the beginning of the 1970’s the Vietnam War still continued to be a major issue. There were numerous earthquakes with record setting deaths. Several massacres occurred including the Jonestown Massacre and the Munich Olympics Massacre. A nuclear accident occurred at Three Mile Island. In the 1980’s President Ronald Reagan negotiated with Russia’s Mikhail Gorbachev to end the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was also torn down in Eastern Germany. There was a famine in Ethiopia, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in America, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The 80’s also saw the Iran/Iraq war that took as many as 2 million lives. Although the final decade of the twentieth century seemed to be a time of increased technology with measures of hope and relief there was the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine High School Massacre, and the Rwandan genocide. During this 20th century Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths.
As we have entered the 21st Century we see that things in the world are still as they have been. There are wars and catastrophic events of many kinds. Are these things the signs of what is happening in the kingdom of God or are they merely the constant testimony of things outside of Christ? We cannot determine what God is up to by looking at world events. We must look into our hearts and at the testimony of God in His Church to understand the real issues in planet earth. What is the season of God? The seasons of men are always the same, but the kingdom of God is advancing and the time of the good news of Christ is within our reach!
As we look at the ages of the past we can see the fruit and the seed of harvest of God’s kingdom. In the early 1500’s there was a Reformation in the Church and a grace of the Spirit of the Lord with justification by faith was released into the earth. This Reformation was continuing to sweep the nations as we came into the 1700’s. “The just live by faith” is still a resounding testimony in the nations. We can all experience the increasing fruit and testimony of the desire of the nations. We have been granted the power of repentance unto life and a testimony of repentance from dead works in Christ. In the last half of the 1700’s to the first half of the 1800’s there was a great Holiness Movement. Over 150 denominations were birthed based upon the testimony of sanctification. A grace of the Sprit of Wisdom and faith toward God was released as fruit and seed to the progressing generations. At the close of the 1800’s and the beginning of the 1900’s there was a Pentecostal Movement. A grace of the Spirit of Understanding with the testimony of Holy Spirit submersion was released as fruit and seed to the generations. The testimony that comes by submersion in God has become an increasing unstoppable reality in the earth. At the middle of the 1900’s there was a Later Reign Movement and a Charismatic Renewal that brought a grace of the Spirit of Understanding and the testimony of the authority of body membership and ministry. The authority of the laying on of hands with the testimony of Christ’s healing life was released as fruit and seed to the coming generations. At the close of the 1900’s there was a Faith, Prophetic, and Renewal testimony given to the Church. A grace of the Spirit of Might with the testimony of the resurrection life of Christ was given the progressing ages of men. The fruit and seed of hearing God, speaking God’s words, and knowing God’s manifest presence was given to the generations. As we have entered this 21st Century we are seeing an increasing testimony of Communion and a reaching of the communities of the world with the community of Christ. A grace of the Spirit of Knowing with Christ’s eternal judgment of love is being given to the generation. A dependency upon God and His heavenly communion is becoming the available testimony for those hungry for life. God wants to empower a generation of people who seek to live to be a blessing, not merely to be blessed. An Esau generation is being transformed to a Jacob generation and the earth will see the people of God revealed in a greater way. The kingdom of God is continuing to increase with the testimony of food and seed to the ages to come.
The coming of the Lord is not a fearful thing for those in Christ. The end of every age is harvest and there is a coming of the Lord in all of the generations of men. The first century Church was familiar with the day of the Lord in their generation. We should also embrace the day of the Lord in the midst of the circumstances of the world in the age we live. What will be the food and the fruit of harvest in our generation for the generations to come?
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
