NOT IN A HAND BASKET

NOT IN A HANDBASKET

We often hear people talking about how bad the affairs of the world are getting, and I am amazed at the ratio of people who seem to think that all hope is gone as far as the earth is concerned.

While I am aware that the political, economic, and spiritual outlook SEEMS to be bleak, I can’t get away from the knowledge that the God of Heaven and Earth is still in COMPLETE CONTROL of the affairs of this ball of dirt and rocks that has been orbiting the Sun since the beginning of time. It is still doing exactly what God commanded it to do in the beginning, with the exception of slipping on its axis at the time of the Flood of Noah. That is what gave us the four seasons of the year. But, the God of Heaven engineered even that. He did it!

Gen 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savor; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Noah had found favor with God because of his Faith. He believed that God was ABLE to do exactly what He said He would do. Consequently, he did exactly what God told him to do. That kind of Faith and Obedience is very precious in the sight of the Lord. It resulted in the COVENANT OF NOAH.

Gen 9:8 And God spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
Gen 9:10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
Gen 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Gen 9:12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
Gen 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Gen 9:14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Gen 9:15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Gen 9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

In a similar fashion, Abraham came into a relationship with God that, in my opinion, has yet to be matched by any of the sons of Adam.

Abraham also "believed God", and did exactly as God told him. His Faith and Obedience was tested for forty years or more before the Lord entered into a Covenant relationship with him.

Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

The inhabitants of the world are still reaping the benefits of the Faith and Obedience of Abraham (4000 years), and the end is still not in sight (a thousand generations).
Psa 105:6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.
Psa 105:7 He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.
Psa 105:8 He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
Psa 105:9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;
Psa 105:10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:

Few of us are aware of the CONTINUAL WORKINGS of the Lord resulting from that Covenant of Promise that God made with Abraham, but they are all around us, every day of every year. They are becoming more pronounced as time progresses toward the DAY OF THE LORD.

This old world has seen some very chaotic times through the centuries of known history, but the situation has NEVER been out of the CONTROL OF THE LORD. And it will NEVER BE SO. This generation has no "corner" on perplexing and terrifying times. Human affairs have been much worse than they are now, but they have NEVER BEEN OUT OF CONTROL OF THE LORD. NEVER HAVE BEEN, NEVER WILL BE.

I am not asking you to believe it; I am simply TELLING YOU!

God is still fulfilling the COVENANT OF PROMISE He made with Abraham nearly 4000 years ago. It is a WORK IN PROGRESS, and is RIGHT ON SCHEDULE to be completed in the time allotted.

Our attention has been, erroneously, focused on the last few years of what we call the Church Age. We have been taught that it will "all happen" in those half dozen or so years.

One man was able, single handedly, to falsely re-interpret scripture and make it into a lie in 1590 AD. He knew it was a lie when he did it, but he had orders from his superior to do it.

We have earned the right to be misled, because of our neglect of studying God’s Word for ourselves.

The Lord doesn’t seem to mind, however, for He has been quietly going about the business of doing all things "according to the pattern" of His Own Will. If His enemies don’t know what He is doing, they won’t try to hinder His operation.

The world is NOT "going to hell in a hand basket" as some theologians would have us believe. Human affairs have been MUCH WORSE than they are now, and the earth still revolves around the sun once every year.

God PROMISED THE WORLD TO ABRAHAM. He won’t let the devil have it.

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

The earth will be full of the "knowledge of the Lord" at some point in its being inhabited by human beings.

The Church of Jesus Christ (the Biblical Children of Abraham) will become a "great mountain" (kingdom) and fill all the earth.

Dan 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

The Knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea (every square inch).

Hab 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

"They will all know Me, from the least to the greatest."

Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

We have heard this for years, but it just hasn’t "soaked in" yet. We have, without realizing it, put it off, and labeled it "for the Beautiful Isle of Somewhere".

But, such is not the case, if I read my Bible correctly. It is, however, scheduled to take place right here on Terra Firma.

God intends to "teach the world" about Himself through the Church when it is completed and fully adorned with His Glory. The Church is still a work in progress, more or less hindered by the misguided efforts of humanity, attempting to apply human ingenuity to a Spiritual Work of the Holy Ghost.

Take courage, weary friend. Focus you eyes on the Promises of God, instead of the voices of those who are the purveyors of Doom and Gloom.

God is in FULL CONTROL of the entire Universe. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus, and have put your trust in His Ability to take your soul through the Vale of Death, you have no need to fear. OUR GOD IS ABLE!!!