The Junction Of Time (Living In Critical Times, Part 1)
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Texts - 2 Timothy 3.1; Psalm 27.4-5; Hosea 10.12;
Texts - 2 Timothy 3.1; Psalm 27.4-5; Hosea 10.12;
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.
We are living in the most critical time in the history of man
We are living in the most critical time in the history of man
Changes are taking place on a global scale
Human activities are affecting nature irreversibly
Morality is at its lowest and religion is blamed for all the evils in the world
Bible prophecies are being fulfilled everyday
Critical Times Demand Critical Minds
Critical Times Demand Critical Minds
Observing Minds
What’s going on?
What’s happening in the world?
Questioning Minds
Why are thing happening in such a way?
What does the Bible say about these things?
What’s going to happen if things continue as they are?
Where are we in God’s timetable?
This Part: The Junction of Time
This Part: The Junction of Time
Bro. Branham first preached on the subject in 1956:
12 In my searching of the Scripture, for quite a while, I have found seven great junctions in God’s Word. And seven is God’s complete number. We…He—He completes in seven. He worked six days, and, the seventh, rested. The world exists in its reign over the earth here, the Church labors for six thousands years, the seventh is the Millennium. And all these mathematics (and) of the Bible are perfect.
13 And God always is on time. Sometimes that we are a little bit late, or (a little) thinking a little different, but that’s always done for a purpose. But God is always on time with His Message.
14 And so, today, I believe that we are facing a great something that the Church should know and understand, that we ought to know what all this is about, and find it in God’s Word...
- The Junction of Time, 15 January 1956
What is a “junction”?
It is a crossroad, where 2 or more roads meet
It is a fork on the road, where one road diverges into 2 or more roads
Important observations
Crossroads are a viable place for commerce.
Crossroads are the most common place for accidents - mostly because people do not pay attention to roads and the signs
The Junction of Time is...
a point in time where one era ends and another begins
a point in time where big changes are taking place that shape history
Biblically, a point in time indicated by Bible prophecies where God’s major plans are ending and beginning.
Main Points
Main Points
Junctions of Time in Bible History
Junctions of Time in Bible History
The Fall of Man in the Garden
Adam’s eating of the forbidden fruit brought the whole creation into corruption
Noah’s Flood
The Flood wiped the entire civilisation
The Call of Abram
His coming to Canaan began the long history of the a chosen people
The Exodus of Israel out of Egypt
Their coming out of Egypt and entering the Promised Land wiped out city-states that long existed in Canaan
The First Coming of Christ
The crucifixion of Christ marked the end of O.T. way of worship and the beginning of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit
Junctions of Time in Secular history
Junctions of Time in Secular history
The following events in history could be identified as junction of time:
the Nicaea Council
The Fall of the Roman Empire
The Reformation Movement
The Discovery of America
The Birth of the nation Israel
The fall of the Berlin Wall
The creation of the World Wide Web
Indications that we are in another junction of time today
Indications that we are in another junction of time today
Social and Commercial Activities
Social and Commercial Activities
“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
eating and Drinking
Marrying and giving in marriage
“It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;
but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
“It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
eating and drinking
buying and selling
planting and building
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”
But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Know the “right thing to do”
Recognise God’s preeminence over your life - “if the Lord wills...”
Do not allow yourselves to be caught in the rate race of this world - buying, selling, building - and neglecting the fellowship, the ministry, the service.
Moral Corruption
Moral Corruption
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
Love of self comes first - from this comes out the rest…
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
holding to a form of godliness - these are Christians!
Preachers and Prophets
Preachers and Prophets
“For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams;
Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy.
‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above And signs on the earth below, Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
‘The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Your sons and daughters
My men and women servants
Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs.
“If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,
nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
Caiaphas “prophesied” although he was an enemy of the truth
Prophecies in the Last Days
Prophecies in the Last Days
Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri (d. 2006)
Jesus Christ is the Messiah and is soon to return
Jesus would return shortly after Ariel Sharon is dead (Sharon died in January 11, 2014)
Maurice Sklar (2011) - a concert violinist who ministers through music:
He spoke of financial disasters, such as the American dollar losing value and causing economic distress, wars, terrorism and rioting in America. He said a financial disaster would also come to Europe and the Euro would collapse. He believed an “all-out war in the Middle East” would take place, with Israel emerging as the victor. But he also said all this would spark a revival. According to Sklar, the sign that this would soon take place, would be the death of Billy Graham: “I am taking Billy Graham home to heaven soon. When you see this, know that my time of grace for the Gentile nations is coming to a close.”
Pastor T.D. Hale (Calvary Christian Center, Ohio)
He stated: "the grace of peace is about to be removed from the nations". He predicted war would come to the Middle East and "shields of protection" would be lifted from "wealthy nations who have hoarded their money and resources from the poor".
“Look to when I take my servant Billy Graham home. When I do, it shall be a prophetic sign that the age of grace will end soon after. Wake up and be ready for my appearing in this midnight hour, O backslidden church – I am coming for my bride who has made herself ready. Repent and prepare to meet thy God, or to be left behind to endure my wrath upon the wicked of the earth who have hardened their hearts against me."
Benny Hinn (2012)
“And the Lord said to me in 1989, when Oral Roberts and Billy Graham go home, it will be the key, it will be the sign of the beginning of the greatest revival. Oral is home and Billy is about to go home, and when he does, I’m telling you, the whole Church, get ready."
Prophets arose during Junctions of time:
Prophets arose during Junctions of time:
Enoch and Noah
Moses
John the Baptist
William Branham
Conclusion
Conclusion
What should we do today?
Slow down and observe the world around you.
Get a break from your busyness
Observe how things are going on as prophesied in the Scripture
Don’t follow the crowd, focus on the signs.
the crowd is a distraction.
Read the signs and understand what they mean.
understand the meaning and purpose of the signs around
all signs lead you to Christ!