November 2021 – The End of the Church Age

PTNews

P r o p h e tic Truth in the N e w s

October 2024

Published monthly by Mike Wingfield Ministries

All Bible references are from the KJV

Download this Newsletter

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

P.O. Box 67, Boones Mill, VA 24065

The Rapture & Feast of Trumpets

“Behold, I [show] you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

By Mike Wingfield

November 2021

Download this Newsletter

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

P.O. Box 67, Boones Mill, VA 24065

The Rapture & Feast of Trumpets

By Mike Wingfield

The End of the Church Age

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery … that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Romans 11:25

Download this Newsletter

By Mike Wingfield

According to the Scriptures, the church, the body of Christ, suddenly began at the Jewish feast of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2. Likewise, the end of the Church Age will take place at a sudden event in one day, the Rapture, recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

From the larger context of God’s eternal plan, His sovereign choice to work through the Jewish people took a sudden detour about 2,000 years ago when the church was birthed at Pentecost. Prior to the beginning of the church, God had exclusively worked through an ethnic group who trace its genetic roots back to the 12 sons of Jacob. This ethnic group is Israel, the Jewish people.

For more than 2,000 years, from the time of Abraham until Pentecost in Acts 2, God had exclusively communicated His revelation and salvation through His chosen people (Romans 9:4-5). Even when the Father sent His Son, Jesus, as the Messiah and the incarnate Son of God, He exclusively ministered to His Jewish brethren. Matthew, in his gospel wrote, “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 9:35). When Jesus sent out His 12 apostles to preach, He gave them the following instructions, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans [an ethnic group that was a mixture of Jewish and Gentile genetic roots] enter ye not; But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:5-7).

In the early days of the church, the body of Christ was totally Jewish. Those who were saved on the day the church was born were all Jews (Acts 2:5). They had come to Jerusalem from other nations to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. It was not until Acts 10 that the first Gentile was saved and made a part of the spiritual body of Christ. This was a very difficult matter for the Jewish people to grasp. For at least two millennia, God had exclusively worked through a Jewish remnant to bring salvation to the

Jewish nation of Israel. After the sacrificial death of Jesus, the divine opening of God’s door of salvation to the Gentiles was a great mystery to the Jewish people.

The Apostle Paul, being directed by the Holy Spirit, has given us insight into this great mystery in Ephesians 2:11-3:12. It is extremely important that we Gentile believers grasp the truth of the mystery he wrote about in this text. In this letter to the Gentile believers in Ephesus, he explains the spiritual dilemma of the Gentiles prior to the suffering of Messiah on the cross. He explains, “Wherefore, remember, that being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, … ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now, in [Messiah] Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of [Messiah] (Ephesians 2:11-13).

Later, in a letter to the church at Rome, Paul would use another analogy to explain this great mystery. In Romans 11, he explained that God’s work of salvation was like the life that flows from God to the Jewish nation, which in this analogy is compared to a natural olive tree (Romans 11:15-24). He explains that due to the Jews’ rejection of God’s Son, God broke off some of the dead branches of the natural olive tree. At the same time, God would graft in branches from a wild olive tree. These branches of the wild olive tree would represent the Gentile converts in the new body of Messiah – the church.

According to the Bible, when we reach out to people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are shining the light of the glorious gospel into the spiritual darkness of their heart.

In the context of Romans 11, the Apostle Paul gives the Gentile church a very significant message. He has warned us to not be “wise in your own conceits” (Romans 11:25). Using the analogy of a living natural olive tree, Paul explains that the grafting in of the Gentile branches onto the Jewish trunk and roots of the natural olive tree is only a temporary arrangement. The time will come when Jesus will break the Gentile branches off of the tree and graft the Jewish branches back into the natural olive tree. In this analogy, the branches of a predominately Gentile church will continue to exist in God’s eternal plan “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25). When this happens, God must supernaturally remove the Gentile branches with the Rapture. After the Rapture, God’s plan will once again be renewed [grafted in once again] with the salvation of the entire nation of Israel (Romans 11:26). During the Tribulation, God’s plan to reach the world with the gospel will not be through the church, but through a redeemed Jewish remnant. Once again, redemption will flow out to the Gentile nations from Jerusalem (Joel 2:32).

According to the prophetic Scriptures, the end of the Church Age will be marked by two prevailing conditions. The communication of these conditions is illustrated with another biblical analogy. The Bible depicts the saving work of God as a spiritual light shining into the spiritual darkness of the world. This analogy is repeated throughout the Word of God. In the Scriptures, the character of God is visualized as being like a great light. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Jesus is portrayed in the Bible as the great spiritual light that came into the world (John 1:4-5; 8:12). Likewise, the Bible is portrayed as being light. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

According to the Bible, when we reach out to people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are shining the light of the glorious gospel into the spiritual darkness of their heart. The Spirit of God works in their mind to illumine their true spiritual need of Jesus for salvation (2 Corinthians 4:6). When they respond with faith unto salvation, they are called out of their spiritual darkness to walk in the light of God’s Word (John 8:12).

When the Lord gave the Apostle Paul his commission to reach out to the Gentile world with the gospel, He told Paul that the gospel would “open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).

With this understanding, let us examine two conditions that will mark the end of the church age:

Condition #1- The Reception of the Light of God’s Revelation

When the Lord sent out His apostles with the message of the gospel, He gave them specific marching orders as to how they were to proceed with their global mission. The book of Acts clearly delineates this commission and how it was carried out by the apostles and those who followed them.

My understanding of what I will share with you in this newsletter began in 1973 when I was a student at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. In a class on church history, my instructor, Ivan French, shared a unique observation he had made in his many years of studying church history in the book of Acts and in the records that followed up until modern times. I owe him a debt of gratitude for opening my eyes to this incredible observation about the pattern of the Holy Spirit’s work of shining the light of the gospel around the world.

After His resurrection, Jesus made many appearances over the next 40 days. When it was time for Him to ascend back to His Father in heaven, He gave His disciples the Great Commission to take the gospel around the world. He said to them, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy [Spirit] is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The preaching of the gospel was to begin in Jerusalem after the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. From here, the apostles were to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as they went out from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and then into the Gentile world.

The book of Acts records for us the missionary activity of the apostles as they were directed by the Holy Spirit. Ivan French observed that according to the book of Acts and the remaining 19 centuries, the Holy Spirit sent His messengers mainly to the west of Israel to begin the global assignment of taking the gospel to the Gentile world. From the church in Antioch, Paul and his associates went to Asia Minor, which is today called Turkey. Acts 13-16 records Paul’s evangelistic efforts in this area. Acts 17-19 gives us details about Paul’s work to the west as he took the gospel to Greece. Eventually, before his death, Paul would take the gospel further to the west in Europe, in Rome (Acts 28).

Ivan French explained that ancient records of church history demonstrate how the Spirit of God continued to move the light of the gospel further to the west in Europe. Then, he explained how the Spirit reached around the world with the light of the gospel. It was like the pattern of the sun moving across the face of the earth from east to west. He said that just as the sun moves across the face of the earth, behind it later that day comes the shadow of darkness and night. Even so, church history demonstrates that as the light of the gospel continued to move west, Israel, Turkey, and Greece began to experience apostasy in the church. Once again, spiritual darkness returned to those regions.

Ivan French explained that as the spiritual darkness settled upon Europe there were believers who wanted to escape and come to a new land to establish a new spiritual frontier on which to grow the church. Many of those who made the voyage across the Atlantic paid a great price to come to America. History demonstrates how America was founded by men of deep spiritual convictions. Here in America, the Word of God grew mightily. After bring firmly established, the American church would send out missionaries to the world.

However, as Ivan French explained in 1973, the spiritual darkness was moving across the face of America. He explained that the work of the Spirit in the 1970s was moving with the greatest reception in Communist China and other parts of the Far East. Then he paused to draw this conclusion. When the end comes, according to the prophetic Scriptures, the Holy Spirit will once again, after circling the globe, return to Jerusalem where He began this incredible mission. Hundreds of thousands of Jewish people will come to salvation in Jesus Christ as the Tribulation Period begins (Joel 2:28-32; Revelation 7). Once again, salvation will go forth from Jerusalem. The ancient prophet of Israel, Joel, writing about the time of the Tribulation declared, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call” (Joel 2:32).

As Ivan French neared the end of his comments on this subject, he reminded us that at some point, possibly in our lifetime, we would see the powerful moving of the Holy Spirit in Muslim countries in the area of the Persian Gulf, just to the east of Israel. He stated that when that occurred it would signal that the light of the gospel had circled the entire globe and was about to return to Israel. Then, the Jewish people would be saved at the opening of the Tribulation Period.

As my mind went back to that lecture 48 years ago, I wondered if there was any Scriptural evidence that would support Ivan French’s observation. My search led me to Malachi 1:11, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles.” See also Psalm 50:1-2 and Psalm 113:2-3. The Scriptures and the historical pattern of church history seem to support the observation that God’s Spirit has been following a divine pattern of literally circling the globe from east to west to effectively bring the light of the gospel to the Gentile nations.

Today, the greatest reception of the gospel is in the Persian Gulf area to the east of Israel. We are being told by missionaries in these areas that tens of thousands of Muslims are coming to Christ and are born again. My friends, this is amazing! I remember in my seminary days that a missionary to the Muslims came to speak at our chapel and told how difficult his ministry had been. After 40 years of sharing the gospel with Muslims in that region, he had only one known convert! Look what is happening now. This is unprecedented!

I must remind you that this new spiritual awakening in Muslim countries is not due to some new effort on the part of Christian missionaries. It is the evidence of the powerful moving of the Holy Spirit in those countries that have for centuries been enveloped in great spiritual darkness. According to the Scriptures, salvation is the work of God. “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). What is happening in the Muslim countries east of Israel is the unique, supernatural work of God fulfilling His eternal purposes.

According to current records, 11 of the top 20 countries in the world where the gospel is most effectively being received are in Muslim countries. These countries include Iran, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Yemen. Friends, this is stunningly amazing! It is a powerful sign that before the Muslim antichrist appears with his powerful deception, God in His mercy is reaching out to Muslims who are caught in this trap of spiritual deception that has gripped that part of the world for 14 centuries. He knows those who are open to the gospel, and He is making sure that they will hear the gospel and be saved before this time of great spiritual deception arrives. Our great God is the God of true deliverance and salvation. He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). What a God we serve! Why not take time now to bow your head and thank Him for saving you?

We are being told that the Holy Spirit is moving in Iran with great power and tens of thousands of Iranian Muslims are coming to Christ. The Christian Broadcast Network has reported that “Christianity is growing faster in the Islamic Republic of Iran than in any other country.” Another documentary states that the new Iranian converts are “bowing their knees to the Jewish Messiah – with kindled affection toward the Jewish people.” It is reported that there are now more than 1 million Christians in Iran.

How is this happening now? What is taking place in these Muslim countries to cause hundreds of thousands of Muslims to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ? They know that becoming a Christian in the heart of Islamic territory could cost them their lives. Thousands of these born-again believers have already given their lives for their new-found Savior – Jesus Christ. In many cases, their own family has killed them as commanded by their Islamic authorities.

Many in Iran and other Muslim countries are hearing the gospel beamed into their countries by satellite radio. Muslims are trapped in a cruel religious system and are looking for hope. They are finding freedom and hope in Jesus Christ. Jesus has declared, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Furthermore, in thousands of cases, we are being told by conservative evangelical missionaries that many of these new Muslim converts are reporting that a man wearing a long flowing robe and identifying Himself as Jesus has come to them in a dream or vision during the night. He gives them instructions to look for someone who has a message from Him. Eventually, those who received these visions were able to speak with a believer. They were given the gospel. Each one, without exception, gave their life to Christ. Obviously, this is the work of the Holy Spirit!

The testimony of the Scriptures is that faith produced due to the demand to see some touchable evidence is a lesser faith than the faith that comes as a result of just hearing God and believing Him without any external proofs.

As I personally examined all of this, the Spirit of the Lord directed me to Joel 2:28-29. In this text, during the beginning of the Tribulation Period, the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon the sons of Israel to bring them to salvation. Joel wrote, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit” (Joel 2:28-29).

This text has been incorrectly interpreted and applied by many of our precious, charismatic brethren. First, this passage has no application to the charismatic signs and wonders movement that has been so prevalent in the last 100 years. The Apostle Peter correctly noted that what happened on the day of Pentecost was a partial fulfillment of this prophetic utterance of Joel. Those who spoke in tongues and exhibited supernatural signs at Pentecost were all Jews (Acts 2:5). According to Joel, the Lord’s promise in this text was for the Jewish people. Study the context of Joel 2. Immediately before verse 28, in verse 27 God said, “And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.”

This is a very significant observation when considering our understanding of the supernatural sign gifts of the Holy Spirit. They were given to the Jewish people and for the Jewish people to produce believing faith. The Bible says, “Wherefore, tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not” (1 Corinthians 14:22). Paul, himself being a Jew, declared, “the Jews require a sign” (1 Corinthians 1:22). In other words, the Jews needed some supernatural tangible evidence in order to believe what God had said. That is why the first person in the Bible to be endued with supernatural signs was Moses in the book of Exodus. Other leaders of Israel who were given supernatural sign gifts were Elijah and Elisha, who were ministering as prophets of God to Israel at a time of great spiritual apostasy. God did not give these men supernatural gifts to elevate them to some type of special spiritual status. These signs were given to them to authenticate their mission and their message as being from God (Exodus 3:1- 4:5).

Later, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and said, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2 Corinthians 12:11). The authentication of these miracles during Paul’s ministry did not elevate him to some super spiritual position. In the previous verse he said, “I am become a fool in glorying … I be nothing” (2 Corinthians 12:11).

The testimony of the Scriptures is that faith produced due to the demand to see some touchable evidence is a lesser faith than the faith that comes as a result of just hearing God and believing Him without any external proofs. Look at the example of Thomas after the resurrection in John 20:24-29. Thomas refused to believe until he saw the scars in the hands and feet of His Savior. This was the typical response of the entire Jewish nation from the time of Moses. After Jesus appeared to Thomas and he saw his resurrected Lord, Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

The Scriptures and church history demonstrate that as the church became less Jewish and the Jewish apostles began to pass off the scene in the first century, the sign gifts also began to disappear. This is exactly what the Scriptures indicate would happen. In 1 Corinthians 13:8, Paul reminded the church at Corinth, a predominately Gentile congregation, that tongues would “cease.” The Greek word for cease does not mean that the sign gifts would be permanently retired by God. It means they would be temporarily placed on a shelf until the end times when the Lord would once again renew His work of salvation among the Jewish people. Therefore, when the end would come, sign gifts would be renewed by God to reach His Jewish people, because “the Jews require a sign” (1 Corinthians 1:22).

These sign gifts would primarily come through the two Jewish witnesses [probably Moses and Elijah] during the first half of the Tribulation (Revelation 11:3-6). They would also accompany many other Jewish believers during the Tribulation (Joel 2:28-32).

During the days of the early church, these supernatural gifts were also given to Gentile believers. Good examples of this were the first Gentile converts in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48) and the Gentile believers in the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 12, 14). According to the overall testimony of the Scriptures, it is apparent that the Lord endued these Gentile believers with these supernatural sign gifts because of their Jewish audience. It was to bring Jews to salvation. Paul wrote to the Gentile church in Rome and reminded them that “salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them [the Jews] to jealousy” (Romans 11:11).

The church did begin in one day at the feast of Pentecost in Acts 2. However, it took several years for the Jewish people to transition into a new mindset to recognize what had happened. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, this was a great mystery for the Jewish believers. Therefore, I am convinced that much of the book of Acts represents a unique transition period in the work of God. During this time, He schooled the Jewish mindset to understand that the Gentiles would play the major role in the new work of God called the church. That is why this transition period was filled with unique signs and wonders. Once God’s revelation clarified what He was doing, the sign gifts began to dissipate. The Scriptures and the records of church history confirm this.

As previously mentioned in this article, the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11:25-26, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” It is my opinion that we are once again in another transition period as the Church Age comes to an end. God is transitioning back to His original plan of bringing salvation to His Jewish people. Therefore, the visions and dreams of Jesus among the Gentiles in the Muslim countries is a powerful sign that we are approaching the end of the Gentile church age.

Could it be that the dreams and visions mentioned by Joel will also be of the same nature within the Jewish nation at the beginning of the Church Age? Jesus personally appeared to a Jewish rebel named Saul on the road to Damascus and brought him to salvation (Acts 9:1-22). Will He once again appear in dreams and visions to the Jews people during the Tribulation to bring them to salvation? I cannot be dogmatic about this. However, it does seem to have some validity as we exam the Scriptures and see what the Lord has previously done. All of this seems to powerfully point to the end of the Church Age, which will happen on a specific day – the day of the Rapture.

Condition #2- The Resistance of the Light of God’s Revelation

There is another condition that marks the end of the Church Age. According to the Scriptures, the light of the gospel will be rejected both by the world and by the professing church at the end of this age.

First, the light of the gospel will be resisted from outside the church. Jesus said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The church of Jesus Christ, from the very beginning, has been met with resistance from the godless culture of the world. The book of Acts recorded this resistance, and it has continued until this very day. The believers in Jesus have suffered persecution and martyrdom as Satan attacks the Lord’s true church.

When the end of this age comes, the Scriptures testify that believers in Jesus Christ will continue to suffer great persecution and martyrdom. While speaking to His Jewish disciples about the signs of His coming and the end of the age, Jesus said, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9). Those who follow and record what has happened in the last 100 years tell us that more believers in Jesus have been martyred in the last century than in the previous 19 centuries combined! Wherever Communist or Islamic governments rule over men, believers in Jesus have been brutally tortured and killed. As the restraining influences over Islam and Communism are being removed, evil is beginning to escalate out of control. This has been recently illustrated in Afghanistan. While U.S. troops were keeping some relative form of peace in parts of that Muslim country, new believers in Jesus felt somewhat safe. However, now that we have withdrawn from Afghanistan, Christians are being tortured and killed. As the U.S. ceases to restrain evil in the world, it creates the perfect environment for global persecution and killing of believers.

Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, was the former Attorney General in Iran during the 1980s. He was known as “the butcher,” killing thousands who opposed the new Islamic Republic of Iran and its radical agenda. It is believed he is preparing for a brutal attack against the Christian population in Iran. According to the prophetic Word of God, Satan is preparing to kill millions of Christians around the world. This is the trend that will only intensify after the Rapture of the church.

Secondly, the light of the gospel will be resisted from inside the professing church of the last days. According to the prophetic Word of God, the end of this age will also be characterized as a time of dangerous spiritual deception, apostasy, and apathy in the church (Luke 18:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1). It is shocking to discover that many who call themselves Christians in America are openly rejecting the Word of God!

Therefore, the reception and resistance of the light of the gospel in our world today tells us that we are very near the end of the Church Age! His coming must be at hand.

Be ready for the shout that will take us out!

October 2021 – Unleashing Evil

PTNews

P r o p h e tic Truth in the N e w s

October 2024

Published monthly by Mike Wingfield Ministries

All Bible references are from the KJV

Download this Newsletter

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

P.O. Box 67, Boones Mill, VA 24065

The Rapture & Feast of Trumpets

By Mike Wingfield

October 2021

Download this Newsletter

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

P.O. Box 67, Boones Mill, VA 24065

The Rapture & Feast of Trumpets

By Mike Wingfield

Unleashing Evil

“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity…” Isaiah 13:11

Download this Newsletter

By Mike Wingfield

Only time will tell how significantly the humiliating U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will impact America’s standing in the world, and especially in the Middle East. Those who live in the Middle East, both Israelis and Muslims, are saying this will have lasting and dangerous repercussions for our world. U.S. actions in recent months have been viewed by the racial Islamic world as weakness. Islamic terrorists groups are rejoicing over the rapid demise of this once great nation. They are now more emboldened than ever, thinking their worldview is coming to fruition. Thanks to the Biden Administration, it appears we are on the threshold of a new global wave of Islamic terrorism.

Our withdrawal from Afghanistan was a political and military farce. As we left in shame, our enemies such China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkey smiled with glee as they supported Afghanistan’s new radical Islamic leadership known as the Taliban. These evil nations will not restrain Islam’s attacks upon the U.S. or Israel. It is apparent that we have some very ominous days ahead for our world.

We are witnessing the earthly manifestation of a cosmic battle in the spiritual world. At the center of the clash between the kingdom of darkness and the plan of God at the end of this age is a sinister figure the Bible calls the Antichrist. What is hindering the Antichrist from coming? This man will be the ultimate culmination of wickedness, and rebellion against the Lord. His power, deception, and lawlessness will surpass all other evil men before him. There have been many antichrists. But the true Antichrist will be Satan’s finest attempt to defeat God and His eternal plan. Why doesn’t Satan produce him now?

The Scriptures declare that Satan and his Antichrist are being restrained by God. The Antichrist will burst onto the world scene at the moment God is ready to unleash evil upon the final rebellious generation. This is all under the plan and control of the sovereign God of the universe.

When the Apostle Paul wrote his second epistle to the church at Thessalonica, he informed them that the Tribulation Period could not begin until there was a time of apostasy in the church (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The church, God’s spiritual restraining influence in the world, is growing increasingly weak due to its dilution of the doctrines of God’s Word. The church will be removed when the Rapture, the next prophetic event on God’s time clock, occurs. When this happens, the church’s restraining influence on evil in the world will be gone. At that time, the Antichrist will be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8).

I believe the Bible gives us enough information to conclude that the Antichrist will be a Muslim. [I will present a detailed analysis of this in the November and December newsletters.] I believe there is a great possibility that he will be the coming Islamic messiah, known as the Mahdi. The Islamic world is eagerly anticipating his arrival and world events are leading them to believe that day is soon. It is troubling to think that our world is rapidly moving toward this horrific event! I believe the events in Afghanistan are preparing for the entrance of the Islamic Antichrist and his jihad efforts to take control of the world.

The events in Afghanistan in the last few months are preparing for the entrance of the Islamic Antichrist and his jihadist efforts to take control of the world.

The stunning revival of Islam since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, along with the blind support of Islam by the liberal West, are paving the way for Antichrist. When the time has come for the Antichrist to step onto the stage of human history, Jesus will invite him to come onto the stage of history (Revelation 6:1).

God is restraining the appearance of the Antichrist until the world reaches a time of total rebellion and wickedness. This rebellion will demand God to respond by unleashing evil upon the final generation of mankind on this earth.

Our world is about to radically change. We are now living during the Church Age in the time when God is exercising His grace. The Apostle Peter, while responding to the timing of Jesus’ return in his 2^nd epistle, made it clear that the unfolding of the end-time events is anchored in God’s patience to wait for sinners to come to salvation. He said, “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering [toward us], not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). This is in sharp contrast to the future Tribulation Period when “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe [the] lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).

During this present age, the Lord is restraining evil in our world to allow His Holy Spirit to strive in the hearts of sinners to bring them to repentance and salvation. As mentioned in my August newsletter, the Lord is using three restraining influences to hold back the advance of evil in our world. They are:

The conscience of man- Romans 2:15– internal influence

Government of man- Romans 13:4– external influence

The Church (Holy Spirit)- Romans 8– spiritual influence

Therefore, before God can unleash evil and the unveiling of the Antichrist, He must cease the work of His three restraining influences.

God’s internal restraining influence through the conscience of every human being will cease when the collective conscience of a society suppresses “the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). Like Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, they will harden their hearts against God’s voice in their conscience. As a result, God will harden their hearts just as He did Pharaoh’s heart in divine judgment. This is illustrated in Romans 1when God declares three times that He gives a wicked culture over to their depraved heart. God stops restraining them from their sin and allows them to self-destruct. At this point they become complete fools and have no moral compass. They call good evil and evil good. In my opinion, America and most of the world have already reached this point.

God also uses human governments to be His servants as they apply the law of God as an external influence to keep evil contained (Romans 13:1-5). God’s intended purpose for human government is to promote good and to punish those who practice evil. These governments are to use God’s law as a discernment of what is good and evil. The Bible tells us that when the end comes, the kings of the earth will agree to rebellion against God and His laws (Psalm 2:1-3).

America entered World War II to defeat evil governments that were attempting to take control of the world. Since that time, God has used America, in spite of all of her inadequacies and problems, to provide an external restraining influence in the world. For 80 years the U.S. has held in check evil Communist nations and violent Islamic forces in the world. During this period of time, we “planted 800 [military] bases worldwide, more than 20 times what the other four superpowers have combined. The number of U.S. troops stationed abroad, 200,000, is equal to the size of the entire standing army of France. Some 150 of the world’s 195 countries host American troops.

“America’s annual military spending, more than $770 billion, is larger than the next five military spenders combined. The 11 aircraft carriers with which Uncle Sam navigates the high seas equal the combined total of all other countries’ carriers” (The International Jerusalem Post, August 27- September 2, 2021, p. 10).

Unlike all other countries in world history, America has not flexed her military muscle to conqueror more territory, or to dominate another country or region. America’s purpose has been to defend those who were being attacked by evil forces. America’s war efforts have been aimed at the defeat of evil, and the promotion of good and freedom. In the war against Communism and radical Islam, we have attempted to foster democratic societies around the globe. This attempt has failed.

Our actions in Afghanistan in the last few months have signaled to the world that America no longer has the will to continue as the world’s premier military police force. In addition, America has become mired in internal problems at home. We are a country that has lost its moral compass. We have become enamored with the gratification of self and immoral pleasures. America has become a country of undisciplined people who have no desire to work or sacrifice for good.

Today, America is fighting from within for its own freedom. We are being deceived into following evil leaders who are plotting our demise. They want evil to reign over the world. They have successfully deceived a new generation of Americans into believing that good is evil and evil is good. They promote freedom as slavery and slavery as freedom. The blind are leading the blind.

Our hasty and humiliating defeat from Afghanistan will go down in history as the final act in the unfolding drama of America’s freedom march across the globe. We have just sent our greatest enemy, radical Islam, a message that we do not have the will to continue the fight against evil. We have failed to understand that radical Islam, with its passionate goal to dominated the world, has never lost the will to fight. “Islamism is the most effective, intense and global threat to peace since World War II, a scourge that compensates for its lack of warships, tanks, and jets with one elusive weapon it owns in abundance: the will to fight.

“Islamism’s war is not on the West; having struck in Russia, China, Indonesia, Turkey, and throughout Africa. Its target is the entire human race. That is why the war on Islamism, unlike the war for democracy, is both winnable and imperative” (The International Jerusalem Post, August 20-26, 2021, p. 9).

Our world is being threatened by two groups that are vying for power to control the world – Communism and Islam. According to biblical prophecy Islam will win this struggle. As the global economy collapses and natural disasters increase, it will devastate the Communist regimes that have heavily invested in the physical building up of armaments. Islam is different. Like the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War, their guerrilla type of warfare does not require sophisticated weaponry.

When the Tribulation begins, the Antichrist will begin his global march “to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Revelation 6:4). The Greek word used for sword is not the long saber used in military conflicts. This sword was a short knife used by assassins. This would indicate that the forces of the Antichrist will not take peace from the earth by conventional warfare, but by acts of terrorism as it is called today. The fact this is a great sword does not speak of the size of the weapon, but rather the size of the conflict. This will be a global jihad, making it a great military advance by the Antichrist.

The world does not realize that the withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan has created a monster that will destroy the world as we know it. Israel 365 News, recently covered the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan by quoting Dr. Mordechai Kedar. Dr. Kedar’s credentials demand that we respect his insight into the mindset of the Arab-Islamic world in the Middle East. He “has a deep understanding of the Arab mindset. A senior lecturer on Arabic culture at Bar-Ilan University, he served for 25 years in the Israeli Defense Force Military Intelligence, where he specialized in Islamic groups, the political discourse of Arab countries, the Arab press and mass media, and the Syrian domestic arena. Fluent in Arabic, he is one of the very few Israelis appearing on Arab television, frequently debating Arab thought leaders and imams in their native tongue” (Israel 365 News, August 31,2021).

Quoting Dr. Kedar, Israel 365 News reported, “August 15, 2021, the day in which Taliban resumed their rule over Afghanistan after 20 years of Western occupation, will forever be viewed and remembered in the Islamic world as the victory of Islam over Christianity, the victory of faith over heresy, and the victory of tradition over permissiveness. These events are pumping new blood into jihad arteries and the results will soon be seen around the world, including in Israel.

“All of Islam views the U.S. as the representative of Christianity today. Therefore, a victory by an Islamic entity over the U.S. is not just a victory of one nation over another. This is precisely what the Koran describes as Jihad. The Koran states that Islam must have dominance over all other religions. Muslims must always be involved in this.

“The entire Muslim world perceives Afghanistan as a Muslim victory over Christianity, not just a Taliban victory or the U.S. capitulating. The average American does not see that religion has anything to do with politics. But this is absolutely not the case in the Muslim world. America saw the war in Afghanistan as a war on terrorism. The Taliban and other Muslims saw it as a religious war. Here in the Middle East, everything is religion” (Israel 365 News, August 31, 2021).

From a biblical viewpoint, we must view this war in Afghanistan as a part of a war between Islam and Christianity that has been going on for 14 centuries. In the name of Allah, Muslim jihadists have slaughtered millions of innocent people. As Dr. Kedar has observed, from a Muslim viewpoint, this is the beginning of the final struggle for Islam to take control of the world. From their perspective, they have just won the first war. The final war of good and evil is about to begin. The humiliating withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan is opening the gates of hell for an invasion of demon-possessed warriors who are dedicated to killing infidels around the world in the name of Allah.

With the cessation of the first two of God’s restraining influences in the world, the conscience and human government, there is only one more restraining influence that needs to be removed – the Spirit’s indwelling presence in the church. When the Apostle Paul spoke of the withdrawal of God’s last restraining influence in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, he used the personal pronoun “He” to describe the Holy Spirit’s work in the church.

God has designed the body of Christ to be His final restraining influence in the world. We are to be His light in a world of darkness. We are to be holy and to proclaim the Holy Word of God. Obviously, the church in the West has reached a point of apostasy and apathy, just as the Scriptures indicated would take place. This is why Western societies are collapsing and Islam is filling the vacuum with deadly spiritual darkness.

This is what happened in the 6^th century in the area now called Turkey. As the church in that region began to die, spiritual darkness replaced the light of the church that was established by the apostles. This opened the door for that area to become an Islamic stronghold. Eventually, that area became the center of the Turkish Islamic Empire that ruled the Middle East and world until its defeat in World War I.

Just as the church began with an event on one day, Pentecost in Acts 2, even so it will end with an event on one day – the Rapture. With the cessation of two of God’s restraining influences, the conscience and human government, only the removal of the church remains. And, that is about to take place!

Everything is ready for Jesus to come. Jesus said, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). The world is now prepared from the coming of the Antichrist. The Islamic jihad against the world is about to ensue.

How much of this Islamic jihad the Lord will allow us to endure is under His sovereign control? We must remind ourselves that during the Tribulation, believers in Jesus from every nation of earth will be butchered by the Antichrist and His religion (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 7:9-17; 17:6; 20:4).

My friend, do you know the Lord? Have you received Jesus and repented of your sins for salvation? The door of salvation is still open. Jesus declared that He is the only door of salvation (John 10:9; 14:6). There is only one God, one Savior, one Bible, and one way to heaven. If you do not receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will miss the Rapture and be left behind to suffer the horrors of the most difficult time people have ever faced on earth. If you die without Him, you will suffer in hell and the Lake of Fire for all of eternity!

In the final book of the Bible, Jesus gave this final invitation, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and fellowship with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Jesus is called “the Lamb” 26 times in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 6:1). As God’s lamb, He was sacrificed for your sins on the cross of Calvary. Now, it is up to you to accept or reject His sacrifice. The choice is yours! Repent and be saved before it is too late.

Be ready for the shout that will take us out!

China and Global Killing Viruses

China has been the place of origin for many global killing viruses in the last 64 years. See the list in the text box below.

Global Killing Viruses from China
Asian Flu- 1957
Hong Kong Flu- 1968
SARS- 2002
Bird Flu- 2008
Avian Flu- 2015
COVID-19- 2019

Some believe this historical fact is related to China being the most populated nation in the world. Others note that these viruses began in China because of the lack of sanitation, poor eating habits, the combined living habitats for animals and humans, and the lack of safe drinking water.

However, all of this analysis falls short of pointing the finger at the evil government that rules over the people of China. The Communist regime that rules in China is godless, ruthless, merciless, and does not care for its people. Like Islam, it exhibits little respect for human life. It is possessed with a evil power to rule the world at the expense of its own population. Anything or anyone who challenges the oppressive leadership in China is quickly silenced or killed.

Many unanswered questions about COVID-19 still remain. Did it begin as an accidental leak in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan China? Or, was it purposely created in China as a biological pathogen aimed at killing people around the world? Evidence at this point in time seems to be inconclusive to answer these questions.

However, one thing is clear. China has lied to the world about COVID-19. When this virus began in China near the end of 2019, the Chinese officials stated it could not be transmitted from one human to another. Evidence has been presented that they did know it was deadly to humans. However, they did not warn the world or stop their citizens from traveling to other countries. To this present day, China’s leadership refuses to cooperate with the world into the investigation of the origin and transmission of this virus around the world. It refuses to share with the world the facts they discovered about COVID from the very beginning of it appearance in China.

There is no justification for China’s failure to work with the international community on the containment of this virus that continues to impact the lives of billions of people on the planet. The malicious nature of Communist China and its track record in the last two years raise great suspicions concerning China’s possible evil intent in all of this. It also makes us wonder what China has planned for the next Chinese virus.

Gordon Chang, a distinguished senior fellow with Gatestone Institute, recently released a very insightful article. He states that “China’s military is working on the next generation of pathogens. Its National Defense University, in the 2017 edition of the authoritative Science of Military Strategy, mentioned a new kind of biological warfare of ‘specific ethnic genetic attacks.’

“China’s military researchers and analysts for half a decade have been writing about pathogens of this sort, and American officials are in fact concerned that Chinese scientists have been experimenting with, in the words of Bill Gertz of the Washington Times, ‘germ weapons capable of attacking ethnic groups.’ Beijing’s determined campaign to collect genetic profiles of foreigners while preventing the transfer to recipients outside China of the profiles of Chinese is another indication that the Chinese military, in violation of its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention, is building ethnic-specific bioweapons.” Chang goes on to say, “If Chinese scientists succeed in designing pathogens targeting only foreigners, the next microbe, virus, or germ from China could end non-Chinese societies. This will be Communist China’s civilization-killer” (Gatestone Institute, “Biden Letting China Get Away with Crime of the Century,” August 31, 2021).

The disengagement of the Biden Administration with regard to foreign affairs is making our world a very dangerous place. President Joe Biden does not seem to show any interest in holding China accountable for their deception and reckless handing of the COVID-19 global tragedy. Without the U.S. as the global watchdog, evil governments around the world are plotting the demise of the free world.

The Bible has much to say about global pandemics in the last days. Jesus listed “pestilences” [diseases] as one of the signs of the end of the age (Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:11). Near the beginning of the Tribulation, one-fourth of the world’s population will die as a result of war, famine, and pandemics (Revelation 6:8). China’s threat of bio-weapons to create a global pandemic that would become a civilization killer could be one of the causes of this horrific global death toll. We are living in days in which prophecies like these are increasingly become more probable.

Iranians Close to Golan Heights in Israel

Many intelligence and military voices are raising concerns over Iran’s increasing presence not too far from the border with Israel on the Golan Heights. Israeli commentator Ehud Yaari, recently stated, Iran has inserted itself “into the Syrian army’s nervous system – its chain of command – and into the everyday lives of the local population” (World Israel News, August 31, 2021). Iran is doing this in a very discreet way because it knows that any attempt by Iran to build an immediate major military base in Syria will be destroyed by Israel’s military.

This is an exact copy of the tactics deployed by Iran in Lebanon decades ago. Iran’s proxy terrorist group, Hezbollah, slowly migrated into Lebanon, infiltrating its fighters within the villages along Israel’s southern border.

All of this is of great interest to those of us who study the prophetic Word. We know that the Battle of Gog and Magog, mentioned in Ezekiel 38, is rapidly approaching. Ezekiel lists Russia, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, and other radical Islamic warriors that will ban together in an attempted invasion mentioned in Ezekiel 38.

As with all other reports mentioned in this newsletter, we are watching the events unfold at this hour. Get ready for the shout that will take us out!

The Spirit of Lawless at the End of This Age

PTNews

July 2020

Published monthly

All Bible references are from the KJV

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006

The Spirit of Lawless at the End of This Age

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people image a vain thing?” Psalm 2:1

Download the .pdf

By Mike Wingfield

The Bible has much to say about the spirit of lawlessness that has gripped our nation in recent weeks. The aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, we have been shocked and even horrified by what has occurred in our beloved nation. Massive mobs have protested in the streets across the land. Millions of dollars in property have been destroyed or burned to the ground. Hordes of unruly thugs have looted businesses taking whatever they want. There have been attacks upon police. Some have been murdered. With the support of some liberal left-wing government leaders, there are those who are calling for defunding the police departments. All of this causes us to ask, “What is going on and where is all of this going?”

As we look at the Scriptures, in light of this matter, they expose the real soul of America. The Bible reveals where our nation and world are spiritually, and where we are headed. In the Bible, the word “lawless” speaks about a person or nation in rebellion against God and God’s law. God’s law, generally expressed in the 10 Commandments, has been the foundation of law and order in this country for hundreds of years. Our justice system is based upon the 10 Commandments. God has given us His law to guide and instruct us in the way of truth and righteousness. The law of God is good (1 Timothy 1:8) and perfect (Psalm 19:7). The Bible clearly states that God’s law “is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners …” (1 Timothy 1:9). The law of God in the Bible is eternal and unchanging. It comes from the mouth of God, Who is eternal, perfect, just, and unchanging. Therefore, the moral standards presented in the law of God are for all people in all cultures throughout all the ages. When any person measures his spiritual standing in light of this perfect standard, he realizes that he is a sinner, and in need of God’s power to be saved and change.

Rioters in Minnesota pose for a photo op.

Continue reading “The Spirit of Lawless at the End of This Age”