of the rapture of the church. Proofs concerning pre-tribulation rapture. You know, anytime you run into somebody that disagrees with this view, then it challenges your mind to start looking for reasons to say, well now, I can't be wrong I tell you this, I don't want to be wrong about what the Bible says on any subject. I want to be right about it. And so when somebody comes along and says, I don't think that's correct, what you're teaching, it causes me to study the Bible even more. And it ought to cause you to do the same thing. Another caution I would offer you is from time to time I venture out with what I believe is a perspective that's right. And there are some things that I do not have the greatest confidence in because I do not have a particular scripture to support what I'm fixing to say, like some of the thoughts that I'm going to say right at the outset of this message today about Donald Trump. You wonder, what in the world does that have to do with the pre-tribulation rapture and the overall picture of what the Bible is teaching us. Well, let me say first of all that in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, He made it clear that we are the Saul of the earth and that we, His children, are the light of the world. So the question is, what does that mean? Are we just going to take a statement like that glaze over the top of it and never really penetrate the meaning of what the Lord said when He said, You are the light of the world. When the Lord uses symbols like light, it's always a reference to understanding. Knowledge and wisdom and understanding, that's what light is. I think it's 2 Corinthians chapter 4 makes it very clear that that's how the Lord is using light. It's a symbol of understanding. Now, the Lord has written a book. I mean, he's written us a book. And it makes no sense whatsoever that it would be a book that you could not understand. It makes all the sense in the world that it's a book that should be understood. And as a matter of fact, the message from heaven is to study it. And rightly divide the word of truth. Well, how can you read such statements and not understand that we're reading something very consistent with what the Apostle Paul wrote the Thessalonian believers. We're not in darkness that that day should overtake us as a thief. That statement is a reference to the last days. The program of God is coming to an end and as time goes by, we're seeing the big picture and the puzzle, the pieces to the puzzle coming together so that we can see perfectly that the coming of the Lord is very near. And so how does all of this relate to Donald Trump? Well, I don't mean to make a whole lot of this, and certainly this is one of those areas of teaching where I'm just throwing out ideas. If it's useful, think about it. If it causes you to study the Bible a little bit more, then so be it. That would be good. But what has gotten me going on this is years ago, I can remember sitting talking with Kent about this subject, and I'm certain that in his Revelation series, he set forth the thought that Revelation 18 is a reference to America. It's the United States in Bible prophecy. It was back during that time period that I believe he ran across a book. I can't remember who it was. Somebody either gave me a book by Frank Loguston called The USA in Bible Prophecy. And I read that book. This had been many years ago. And I got to thinking about what he was saying because this was unprecedented study for me. I had never really thought about this subject before then. America, isn't it odd that we could have the influence that we would have in the world in the last days, and the Bible not even mention America? And this is one of the things that Logsdon is bringing out. In Cottage Prayer Meeting Friday night, we were discussing some of these things, and we get into some really lively discussions there, and I think we learn a lot. In Cottage Prayer Meeting, we were talking about the United States and Bible prophecy and how that Donald Trump, I believe, is a man, if you just think about him as a person, what we know about him, he's not a fundamentalist Christian. He is not a fundamentalist Christian. Everything that I personally know about Donald Trump and the way of his testimony, and I brought a message a couple of weeks ago on what defines a person. Well, what defines Donald Trump? What do people think about when they think about Donald Trump? And I'll tell you the first thought that comes to mind is money. That's what defines him up one side and down the other is money, a dollar bill. And that's what his life has been about as long as I can remember. He's an incredible businessman. I hand it to him. This guy is just amazing. As a person that we might think of as having a following with the evangelicals, this is what's coming out in the news now. He's got an evangelical following, and you've got Jerry Falwell Jr., you know, man, he's endorsed him. And so you've got Christians that are falling for him as a person that is not an enemy of the church. Well, I would have you remember that the Apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians and warned them about deception. Even in the pulpit, the deception that would be in the pulpit and how there would be ministers of light whose end would be according to their works and how that Satan's ministers are angels of light. Well, I'm not saying that Trump is an angel of light in that sense, but I am saying that there is a deception that is in the world today, that if you're not careful, you're going to be sucked into it, to embrace it without even realizing what you're doing. Well, we're supposed to be the children of light that understand what this book is teaching about. Now, you tell me how a man could have an evangelical following, and a large portion of his money has been made in casinos and gambling. A man who is obviously a man who's made a lot of his career surrounded by beautiful women. And I mean, you know, this is almost a trademark with him. But I think about the United States today and the spiritual condition of the United States. And what I believe is that most people in churches today across America, their primary thought is not a right understanding of the Bible because I don't think most Christians study it at all. Truth be known, I doubt seriously that 95% or better of people who go to church today have a regular discipline time of Bible study and prayer. I don't believe it happens. I think that we're caught up in a A rat race where everybody's concerned about jobs and making money. That's what Americans are all about now. It's money. The Tea Party. You get involved in the Tea Party, and the main thing, and I have been to some extent, and I got out of it because I felt like it didn't represent a biblical view, worldview. They're not interested in getting behind Things like abortion and the homosexual issue and the moral issues of our day, as much so as they are money. They are very concerned about the money, the economy, and what can we do to restore America to, you know, the days when things were so much better financially. I believe that the Lord will give the people the desires of their heart, whether it is evil or whether it's good. If you're a person that is seeking after the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart. He will answer your prayers. He will give you insight into the scripture. But if the desires of your heart are wrapped around the world, He'll give you that too. And I believe America is fixing to receive the desire of its heart, which is the dollar bill, And I don't want to be venturing out as though I'm some kind of a prophet or something, because I'm not. But I'll tell you this, I would not be one bit surprised if Donald Trump is not the president of the United States, our next president. And you may think that we're going to be better off because of that. But I beg to differ with you. I don't believe we'll be better off at all. But I believe that what is happening is the Lord is preparing America for the fulfillment of what you see in Revelation 18. Now, if you go with me to Revelation 18, I just want to show you this because basically our study is not what we're talking about right now, but it certainly is a part of it. But there's so many things that are said in this chapter that cannot apply to any other nation in the world. Let me just say this as we're getting into it. Back in the 70s, I went to Europe and hitchhiked around all over the place. And one of the things that I pleasantly discovered over there was that no matter what country I went into, Belgium, France, I went into Switzerland and down in Italy, and of course in England. All of these countries, everywhere I went, everybody could speak English. I never wanted for anything because everybody could speak my language. At least good enough that I could communicate something that I wanted and I would get exactly what I asked for. And so America, in terms of global influence, is so great that the common language in the whole world is English. It's not Chinese. It's not Japanese. It's not Russian. I mean, when you think about it, America, if we're living in the last days, America has a huge role in what is going on in the last days. And I think, as children of light, we ought to be able to look around and notice certain things that should become conspicuous in our thinking as we study the Bible. Well, what country has been as generous as America has been generous. I know of no country ever in my lifetime that has been as generous as the United States of America. Even to this day, man, we're writing checks in billions of dollars we're giving to other countries. Billions. When it comes to the starving and And emergency rescue efforts and so forth, the United States is the one that's looked to. Who was it that Winston Churchill was looking to if England was going to be spared? Boy, he was working as hard as he could to get Roosevelt involved in that war. And of course, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, we didn't have much. choice but to get involved in what was going on. And we did. And had it not been for the United States of America, I think the Germans would have taken over the world at that time. No doubt about it. At least all of Europe. So the United States is very prominent in last day's Bible prophecy. If you look at all of these things that cannot be denied by anyone, whether you're saved or not, it doesn't matter. And so there's some things I want to point you to. Look at verse 11. We haven't got time to go into all of this, but I just wanted to show you this. Babylon the Great, you know, the mother of harlots, is basically what's being talked about here. Babylon the Great is following verse two. But then in verse 11, it says, and the merchants of the earth, now notice that, we're talking global. The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her. For no man buys their merchandise anymore. Now look at verse 15. The merchants of these things which were made rich by her, that is Babylon, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, for in one hour so great riches has come to naught. And every ship master and all the company in ships and sailors And as many as trade by sea stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, what city is like unto this great city? And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, alas, alas, that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness, for in one hour is she made desolate. Look at verse 23. And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth. For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. And you say, now how in the world could that be true of the United States? Well, I can tell you right now, from the very top of our present current government in the United States of America, there's a hostility toward Christianity that's beyond imagination. And we need to think about that. Our government is doing absolutely nothing concerning the assaults against Christians in this country. If you try to introduce Christianity into anything political, you'll be stomped. They'll destroy you. Our judicial system is not defending believers in terms of their faith. If you're a photographer or you're a person that runs a bakery, and you want to live by your convictions in a practical way, the courts will not stand behind you. You will pay dearly with money if you stand by your convictions. And that's the way it is in the United States of America. When it comes to the Christians that are being persecuted over in Europe or in the Middle East right now, what is this country doing about them? We're reaching out to the Syrians that, you know, are of the Muslim faith. But we're not reaching out to rescue Christians. You don't hear about it in the news. You don't hear a fury coming out of the White House or the Congress about Christians. Why is that? Because of what we're reading right here. Verse 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth. If you don't think that God is going to hold America accountable for not standing up for his people, I think we're wrong. We're wrong. We're not standing up for him in our own country. And we're not standing up for him in the world. And apart from Christianity, we have no constitution. We have no Declaration of Independence. We have to radically change our entire form of government if we cease to embrace Christianity. As a matter of fact, the cosmetics of our government and the way of the buildings and so forth is uniquely Christian. And you go up to Washington and it's everywhere. It's all over the place. But anyway, so how does Donald Trump fit into all this? Well, I'm not saying that he's the Antichrist because I don't think personally he can be. The reason I do not is because I believe the Antichrist is a Jew. And I believe that what's behind what's going on in the world today is totally controlled by the international bankers. And I think the One of the final moves that would bring to pass Daniel chapter 11, where the Antichrist is said to have control over all the treasures of gold and silver in the world, can be by no other means than the international bankers. I mean, listen, all we've got to do is open our eyes, go on the internet, everything that I'm talking about is there in black and white, it's printed out. the international bankers. And with the United States turning away from the gold standard and jumping on board with the global banking system, I mean, does somebody have to hit us with a two-by-four to get us to see what's going on? I mean, it's right in front of our faces. I think the significance of a Donald Trump and the reason that he could very well end up being the President of the United States is because whatever happens between now and the rapture of the church is going to, in some way, accommodate this chapter. And I believe that it's very likely that the United States is going to go through a very brief shaking. And there's going to be a temporary kind of chaos going on in this country. I believe that. And I think that it's going to be a chaos that is going to make it understandable why there's not going to be any real great concern over the disappearance of actual believers in the rapture. Something's got to happen. I think it has to be some kind of practical thing that reasonable people would look at and say, well, you know, good grief. There's people dying all over the place. I think we're going to see that kind of chaos in this country. And anybody that cannot see that we're sitting ducks for it. The gun sales and the ammunition sales in this country have skyrocketed. Skyrocketed. And people are packed with guns and ammo across this country. You've got Muslim cells all over this nation. You've got the immigration problem across the border. We've been told, a horse named Myrick, the representative, several years ago, put together a letter to the, I can't remember if it was the Speaker of the House or who it was, about the immigration issue and how that there were not just Mexicans coming across that border. We had terrorists coming across that border. And then you got the Fast and Furious thing. And it just keeps on coming out, how we were providing weaponry that was going to be used down in Mexico and no doubt here in our own country. These are troubling things that we're seeing, but no one can deny that it's going on. It's in the news all over the place. And so I believe when the church is raptured, then he that letteth, he that hindereth, will no longer be around to hinder where this nation wanted to go. And where did this nation want to go? Where did it want to go? It wanted to go to the God that this nation worships. And the Lord explained it in Matthew chapter six. He says there's two gods. There's a true and living God. And the other God is a God called Mammon. Mammon. There are only two gods. And when you think about it, the true and living God has a will. But what does money do? It finances the human will. It's how the human will can be done. The reason money is at the forefront of everything that happens with the Antichrist is because it's the means of implementing the idea that he has. And it's all America is concerned about, is the money, so that I can do what I want to do. That is humanism to the core, folks. And I think when we sit down and study the Bible with these things in the backdrop of our thinking, we can understand a little better what's going on. But if we close our eyes to these things that are so obvious in front of us every day, I'm telling you, the world looks on at the news and they say, oh my, I just don't understand it. I just don't understand it. Well, we shouldn't be saying we don't understand it. If we're the light of the world, we ought to be those can not only understand it, but describe it to people, what's happening. And I think some of these things that I'm suggesting to you are, you know, it'd be kind of hard to say it's not true. I mean, how would you say it's not true? So. Mr. Creech, when it comes to Mr. Trump, I've already encountered several of people that claim to be Christians to me. And we got a little discussion about our responsibility. I can't devote for the antichrist and then have someone that I know who's running, I have reasonable suspicion, is a Christian. And even if we lose the vote, it's God's job to decide after that. I have a responsibility to do the right thing every time. See, I think that the Lord has put before us a very, very clear choice for true evangelical Christians You got Donald Trump and you got Ted Cruz. Well, I haven't ever talked with Ted Cruz personally, but I did hear his dad. And I'm gonna tell you something, that guy, he knows the truth. And Ted Cruz, I believe, knows the truth. I believe he does. He knows the truth. And God has raised up a man that has an incredible, an incredible mind. But I don't believe this nation has the background and the conviction to even recognize who is the right man, let alone vote for the right man. But I'll tell you this, you won't catch me voting for Donald Trump. Never. It'll never happen. When I stand before the Lord, I want it to be clear. And I want it to be written in the books. that there was a day that Dwight Creek sat down and thought about the big picture. And he discerned that the man that God would raise up as a choice for believers, he always gives us a choice. And the choice for believers, I believe, is Ted Cruz, as far as that is concerned. I think this nation is at the last point of opportunity when it comes to are the destiny and the future of this country. I think this is it. This is the last election we're going to have. I believe that with all my soul. I don't think there's any way this thing can keep going. Well, I do not say all these things to distress Christians, but to encourage Christians, because how can we be depressed with what the Bible says is going to be? when we know that our faith and trust is in Jesus Christ and He's got everything under absolute and perfect control. And it's not so much about our comfort and our welfare as it is the will of God. And I think what the Bible has taught us concerning the will of God is that things are going to get bad when the disciples ask Him, you know, what's going to be the sign of your coming? As we look toward the end of time and you're coming back, what are we supposed to see? Did you see anything in Matthew and Mark and Luke, which are the main Gospels that talk about the second coming of Jesus Christ, did you see anything that would cause you to be excited like you were going on some kind of worldly vacation and things were going to be better and we could relax and enjoy our money and all that kind of thing? No. He said, take heed that none may deceive you. That's the first thing he said. Then he warned about the wars and the rumors of wars. He talked about the false Christ. He talked about the fact that it would get so bad that even the very elect would be deceived. He talked about the fact that it would get so bad that if he didn't come back, the whole world would be destroyed. That's what he said. You see anything positive in that? Well, if Christians do not get out here and say it the way the Bible says it, well, are we looking for an earthly happiness? Or are we looking for an eternal happiness? Are we looking for our happiness? Or are we looking for God's happiness? There's humanism. Well, I would like to think that way. I mean, that's the humanism that's in me. I would like to be able to stand up here and talk about positive things. But life is not about what I would want. Life is about the will of God. And it's a terrible situation, and it's so bad that the only remedy was the murder of the innocent Lamb of God. And don't you think that the Bible is going to be written in such a way as to cause us to think lightly about that. I think that the only way, as Reedhead said, that God can get glory out of a man is to bring him to the foot of the cross. The greatest tragedy in the history of the universe was the crucifixion of the innocent Lamb of God. And the only way he can get glory out of a human being is to bring a person to that place, to the cross of Calvary, and teach him what he really deserves. He deserves to burn in hell forever. And every soul that has ever been born needs to understand that. That's what we deserve. Now, how can the Bible be a revelation that's upbeat and positive? a Norman Vincent Peale philosophy of theology in a positive thinking with a book like the Bible. The reason this book is despised is because it tells us the truth. And the truth is things are not good, things are bad. And there's none good but one, and that is God. But go out here on the streets and just ask at random, do you think that you're a bad person? And they'll look at you and say, what, me? No, I'm not a bad person. I'm a member of the Moose Lodge and the Elks Club and the Rotary Club. I'm a Mason, and I'm a this and a that, and I go to the Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran Church, whatever. I'm a believer. And I try to give to charitable organizations. I do a lot of good things. Do you believe that you deserve to burn in hell forever? Well, I believe some do. I believe Adolf Hitler belongs in hell. But what about you? Do you believe that you deserve to burn in hell? Not really. Well, have you ever thought about it? Does the Bible teach that you deserve to burn in hell forever? Any person that does not believe that the Bible teaches that they deserve to burn in hell forever, in my view, as lost as they can be, don't understand the message of the Bible. Every individual has to come to that point of owning it. Yes. I've got the blood of the Son of God upon my hands as though I murdered him. That I was there and I crucified the Lord. And anybody that thinks otherwise does not understand the message of this book. And so, you know, that's why Christians are hated. That's why the disciples were slaughtered. That's why Jesus Christ was crucified. Because he told this truth right here. There's a problem in the world and it's not with God. The problem is with man. We are of our father the devil and the lust of our father we will do. That's what Jesus Christ said about us. And he said it generically as it relates to every human on the face of the earth. Okay, now let's go back to sort some of the things that we were talking about when we ended I talked to you about the carcass, and I gave you a view that I believe is, I do not believe that it's the literal interpretation of that passage, but I do believe that it's the spiritual application of that passage. That our gathering together as the eagles to the carcass is a picture of believers, the eagles, represented by eagles in the Bible. are going up to continue what they've been doing throughout the whole church dispensation. And that is remembering. Remembering the Lord. The Lord's Supper. Except a man eat my flesh and drink my blood. The eagles understand that. That if we do not feed upon that carcass, the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, We'll lose our soul forever. Jesus Christ said so. If you do not eat this flesh and drink this blood, you have no life in you. You're lost. You do not understand. That's why we've got to come to the foot of the cross. We've got to understand it. We've got to own it. That we're responsible for the death of that one that is there referred to as the carcass. We slew him. We killed him. And then like beasts, we fed upon Him. And yet, the Lord Jesus, in His eternal plan, turned the greatest crime, now think on this, the greatest crime in the course of human history, into our redemption. What an amazing thing. The wisdom of God, and in His weakness, in the weakness of His deity, in His death, He redeemed the world. You're talking about the power of God. The Lord did not manifest His power in His greatness in terms of what He could do. He'd already done that. He created the universe, and there's no end to it. What kind of power do you have to have to do that? But He demonstrated His power and what He could do in His own death on the cross. That's an amazing thing. I want to spend just a few moments, because time goes about it so quick, what time is it? 20 after. 20 after, what time am I supposed to be through? At 30. When? 10 30. 10 30. Okay. Okay, I lose sense of time up here. I want to speak about the thief just a little bit, because all throughout the scripture, that is so central in understanding the second coming of Jesus Christ. It's so central to perspective of two groups of people. There are two groups of people. There's the saved and there's the lost. There's the true Jew and there's the Gentile. Generally speaking, the Gentiles represent the lost and the Jews represent the people of God in the Bible. Spiritually speaking, the division of the whole human race between saved and lost. The Jews, and tracing the genealogy back to Abraham, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Abraham is a type of any person, Jew or Gentile, that ever got saved. In God's economy, the way he looks at them is he looks at them as a Jew. The Lord made it very plain. He said, a Jew because you're circumcised. You're a Jew because you're circumcised in heart, because you have died to the flesh in your heart. And if you do that in your heart, then in my way of looking at you, you are a true Jew, whether you're a Gentile or not. As a matter of fact, the Lord made it very plain in Ephesians that He put no difference, really, between the Jew and the Gentile. He made them both one. by way of the blood of the cross. And so we have to be careful about how we try to cast some form of prejudice upon God, because He's not a prejudiced God. He has no respect of persons whatsoever. And so when we read about Jew and Gentile, all this is is a learning opportunity for us learn how God thinks and learn something about his program and how that he uses these different things to teach us some truth about either himself or ourselves. And that's how we're supposed to read the Bible and not come to the end of the book and say, well, I'm glad I'm a Jew. And another say, well, I'm glad I'm a Gentile or whatever. Or that I was baptized by Paul. or some country preacher, what difference does it make? In God's economy, he doesn't lift up anybody as being special because of who they are or whatever, or their genealogy or anything else. So when it comes to the thief thing, the thief thing, the Lord uses it several times in a way that it appears to be a description of himself. And this is a huge mistake on the part of believers to not see through how the Lord is using it as it relates to him. So here's how you have to see it. When he uses it as related to himself, he said it himself, that he's coming as a thief in the night. He's coming as a thief in the night. But in what character do Believers see the Lord. Do they see Him as a thief? Absolutely not. How can a Christian understand a verse like, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein? And think of God as being a thief of anything, when He owns everything. When we give to the Lord a tenth, It's really just a symbolic gesture of our recognition that all the riches in the world belong to Him. And we're just saying, Lord, we're giving you the tenth as an acknowledgement that you own the whole hundred percent. The whole hundred percent. But how is the Lord viewed by the lost? I'll tell you how he's viewed. He's viewed as a thief in the character of a thief that is one day coming to take what is not his. I'll tell you how lost people think. They think in terms of self. They think in terms of what I own and what I can get and that greed is at the heart of everything that a human is. A person by nature is not charitable. but only in the sense that it's going to come back to him to enrich him even more. No lost person is a giver. A lost person is a getter and a keeper. And lost people do not view the earth and the things of the world as belonging to God, but as belonging to themselves. And so people spend their lives trying to own land increase their bank account and buy a bunch of stuff, you know, and so forth. But everybody still dies. But nobody thinks about dying. No one thinks about dying. Everyone thinks about living. I don't care how old they are. They're thinking about continuing to live. The idea of dying is put aside. Don't want to think about it. And so anytime the Lord is talking about Himself in respect to being a thief, He's talking about how the Lord will be viewed by the lost when he comes. He's going to be viewed as a thief that is coming. But how is the Lord viewed by a believer when he's taught that he's coming, the second coming? Well, a bridegroom is not a thief. What is a bridegroom? It's someone that you have come to know and you've learned all about him. You've learned about his nature, his character, his ways, and he's good. And all these particulars come together as you think about him and all of a sudden you find yourself in love with him. And all of a sudden you conclude, I want to live with him forever. I don't want him to ever be somewhere else. I want to be in his presence forever. And that's how believers view God. That's how believers view the Lord Jesus Christ. Not as a thief. Now, the reason the Lord wants this priest in the churches that he's coming as a thief is because in the churches, I'd say the vast number of people that go to churches in America today are as lost as they can be. And even though superficially they do not regard God as a thief, In their heart, they're practicing practical atheism every day of their life. A man-centeredness about everything in their whole life. They're not spending time, quality time, with a holy God. Realizing when they open this book what they've got in their hands. They don't go to the church with enthusiasm because they love you, but rather reluctantly. It's just something I've got to get out of the way. I'll be glad when it's over and the church is over. The vast majority of people in America today worship themselves, not worshiping God. We've got entertainment-oriented churches. We've got masses of people that just are not over. Our time's gone. It is. Well, I hope I haven't gotten off on the things that would distract us from what we ought to be thinking about. I think these are things that we need to be thinking about. Let's look forward to prayer. Art, were you dismissed? Father, it's so, I know that everybody's been here and everything, and I haven't. I've been away and not been seeing my brothers and sisters. I just thank you, Father, for this place and the precious Word and the things we heard today that attained to our lives and the things that we need to do in our lives. Just, Father, just burden our hearts to get in Your Word and see the blessedness of You and the things that You're so gracious in allowing us to have here. I mean, just the church being finished. Charles and everything that's said would be done to your honor and to your glory. Thank you for it. In Jesus name.