ECCE

       There is a Doomsday Clock that expresses the prevailing opinion of secular scientists of how close the world is to a nuclear disaster. The feared disaster is represented on the clock as occurring at 12:00, midnight. Those who set the time on the clock have decided that we are now at 85 seconds to midnight.  The Sabbath Torah reading for this week is the account of Noah, the ark, and the flood of God's judgment upon the earth, a moment of global catastrophe such as is anticipated above.      Jesus described the signs that would occur before His return, which include great heavenly and global disasters, and spiritual deception with apostasy: "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the...

     Every strong nation that has fallen in history has fallen because of its wrongdoing. Matthew 25 tells the parable of the ten virgins, all asleep, with five being wise and five, foolish. The meaning of "foolish" as used here in the Greek, means, "foolish, impious, godless, dull, stupid, blockhead."      In continuing messages based upon the new book, The Late, Great United States**, the first letter written by Dr. Stevenson to a president was to President-elect William Clinton. The letter carried a warning which is even more urgent today. Included in that letter was what God required of us as written by the prophet Micah: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it...Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the...

     Because we will be discussing the Ekklesia , it is necessary to define it. The Greek word ekklesia , which is translated as "church" in the New Testament, really means "the called-out assembly of God's people".  The Ekklesia is called out of the world and into God's Kingdom. This is New Year's Eve and the world will be celebrating as it usually does, but what is the goal of the Ekklesia for this new year?       Jesus described for His disciples the conditions that would exist in the last days before His return. He said that no man would know the day nor the hour of His return, only the Father in heaven knew this. Because of this uncertainty, when the day and hour comes, it would be as in the days of Noah when the time of the judgment flood drew near. At that time, Jesus said, life went on as usual with the people going about their daily tasks and being completely unprepared for what was about to come. Although they would have witnessed the ...