Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Prophecy Digest: Revelation Preface-Chuck Smith

What The World Is Coming To

A Commentary on the Book of Revelation

by Chuck Smith

Preface

Forewarning

1.The Revelation

2.Four Messages

3.Three Messages

4.The Rapture

5.Who Owns the Earth?

6.Bad News

7.Two Special Groups

8.Calamities

9.Misery, Woe, and Suffering

10.Foreshadowing of the King

11.Two Special Agents

12.People and Places

13.The Antichrist

14.Final Warning

15.The Plagues Are Coming!

16.A World of Despair

17.Counterfeit Church

18.Bankruptcy

19.Jesus Comes Again

20.The Perfect Government

21.Our New Address

22.Peace Like a River

Preface

Many people say, "Stay out of the book of Revelation. That's a sealed book and

you really can't understand it." It's true that, by attempting to interpret

Revelation, people have done many weird things with it. But, in reality, it's a

book that was not intended to be sealed. It was intended to be read and

understood.

In this commentary on the book of Revelation we have sought to express

concepts and conclusions drawn after years of study. We do not ask you just to

accept them because we have stated them, but we urge you to search the

Scriptures to see if these things be so.

The Bible says,

These [people of Berea] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that

they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures

daily, whether those things were so (Acts 17:11).

Also, the Scriptures tell us to "prove all things" and to "hold fast that which is

good" (I Thessalonians 5:21).

Forewarning

"THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR."

That statement used to be associated with old, gray bearded men walking

barefooted in long robes with sandwich boards over their shoulders. The front of

the board read "Repent" and the back read "The end of the world is near." We

used to pass them off as crackpots and laugh at such a thought or idea.

But lately I've been reading not the wild fanatical statements of some old, so called

prophet but, rather, the statements of men of science, men with a Ph.D.

who are highly respected for their knowledge. These men have studied the

environmental conditions of the earth. Do you know what they're saying? They're

saying, "The end of the world is near."

In fact, these experts are saying that man has anywhere from fourteen to forty

years left upon this planet until we have so totally raped our natural resources

that we can no longer survive. These men with their doctorates, who are

carefully studying the balances of nature, are saying that the end of the world is

near.

Is this possible? Can we really believe these ecologists? Are we really destroying

nature's balances? Are we really wiping out hundreds of species, are we

depleting our energy resources, and destroying the environment around us? Is it

true that certain birds cannot hatch their eggs because of the DDT deposits in

the eggshells? Is it true that the earth's ozone blanket is steadily disappearing?

Are such things really happening? Maybe they're just trying to scare us.

However, they aren't the only ones warning us. Our militarists are telling us that

the end of the world is near. They're warning us that if man engages in a fullscale

atomic war, we'll exterminate ourselves from the face of the earth and it

will be the end of civilization.

In the face of these warnings, the United States continues to maintain its atomic

arsenal and the systems to deliver atomic bombs upon our enemies. By the

same token, our enemies are maintaining their atomic arsenals and the means of

delivering them upon the United States. The real danger is the widespread

proliferation of nations now possessing atomic weapons. We're in this mad war

of building these huge atomic arsenals. And already there are enough atomic

weapons stockpiled to obliterate mankind from the face of the earth.

Not only are the ecologists and militarists warning us, but so are the diplomats.

Those analysts who study world conditions tell us that the world is sitting on a

powder keg - and the fuse is being lit in the Middle East. At any time the

situation can explode into a full-scale conflagration of the great world powers.

The end of the world is near.

Is it possible that man could come to the end of an era? Don't we just go on

forever, one society replacing another, one generation following another, on and

on and on? Hasn't man cried this before? What do they mean, "The end of the

world is near"?

The Answer

When Christians talk about the end of the world, they mean something different

than the scientists. The scientists are talking about the end of mankind.

Christians are talking about the end of the cosmos. This Greek word for world

means "the set order." Christians are talking about the end of the present world

order which is governed by Satan and in rebellion against God.

Man has had his day, and the day of man's attempt to govern himself is about to

close. For a long time we've sought to govern ourselves and to live

independently from God. We've tried about every conceivable form of

government. We've sought for equality and justice. We've replaced one system

of government with another. But we've proven, by the variety of governmental

forms tried, that it's impossible for man to govern himself without falling into

corruption. Even communism, the newest form, has already slipped into an

irrevocable form of corruption from which there is no recovery.

What's the answer? What's the answer to the world's cries for peace, and the

world's cries for love, and the world's cries for dwelling together in harmony?

There is no answer except Jesus Christ.

We who are of the church look for a new form of government - a monarchy that

embraces the entire world. We're waiting for our King to come and set up that

monarchy. We're waiting for righteousness to cover the earth as the waters

cover the seas.

This glorious coming Kingdom and the momentous events

surrounding its establishment are described to us in the prophetic book of

Revelation.

This material was brought to you by Propehcy Digest, a ministry of Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity, Michael James Stone, Volunteers, and people dedicated to the Love of God and Salvation of Souls. We know the End is near, as well as the return of Jesus, He is Coming Very Soon. Broadcast Christianity, operates by you and for you. “Freely you have received, freely give”  Pass this on, everywhere you can, anytime you can. You will be blessed if you do. It is for us to let others know the Truth we have received.

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