In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the urgency of the message and the responsibility of the watchmen to warn the people. He believes that the world is on the brink of momentous events, specifically the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39, which predicts the invasion of Israel by various armies. The speaker emphasizes that God commands all people to repent and turn to Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead. He warns that judgment is coming upon the world and calls for individuals, nations, and cities to heed God's warning and turn to Him before it is too late. The speaker also references Daniel 8:23, which suggests that judgment will come when sin and iniquity have reached their peak.

I turn again to Ezekiel chapter 33, and I'll just read the first two verses again, where it says, in the authorised version, again, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I, notice it says when I, God is speaking, when I bring the sword upon a land, If the people of the land take a man of their coast, and set him for their watchman, If, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people, Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, If the sword come, and taketh him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him. That means that he is responsible for his own fate. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But, if the watchman seeth the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, If the sword come, and take any person, that means any individual person, If the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, But his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. What a terrible responsibility, my dear friends, rests, therefore, on the watchman. Now, I began this message in the Foreign Office, Christian Union, by saying this. In view of the urgency of this message, I believe it is important to state the punchlines first. I believe it is important to do that again this afternoon. We are living at a time when the whole world is standing on the very threshold of the most momentous events ever yet to take place in the whole of human history. For instance, I believe we are living far nearer than we realise, seeing the fulfilment of the prophecy of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39 take place, which prophecies are concerning the invasion of Israel by the armies of the North, accompanied by the armies of Persia, which is present day Iran, by the armies of Ethiopia and Libya, and the rest of them that are mentioned in these chapters, Ezekiel 38 and 39. Those chapters are often described as the Gog and Magog War. We are living far nearer than we realise to that. If that is so, then we are living far nearer than we realise to the fulfilment of Zechariah, chapter 14, which I hope to come to later. Don't turn it up in your scriptures just at this moment. Then I come to understand that the Foreign Office Christian Union have been spending some weeks studying the prophecies of the Book of Daniel. As I said, I see from your programme that you have been studying some of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel. We read in Daniel, chapter 2, verse 29, that God revealed to Daniel what shall be in the latter day. What shall come to pass hereafter. And all the signs, my dear friends, suggest that we are actually living in the latter day. Thank you for the Amen. The prophecies of Daniel contain part of the Divine Programme as to what will take place in those latter days. Part of that Divine Programme is in the Book of Daniel. Part of that Programme is in the Book of Isaiah. Part of it is in the Books of Ezekiel and Zechariah. And part of it is in the Book of the Revelation. And there are other parts elsewhere. Friends, we need to be students of the prophecies of the Bible today. Are we being students of the prophecies of the Bible? So the prophecies of Daniel are part of the programme of what will take place in those latter days. The Divine Programme. And we are living at a time when we see it all happening. And it is all happening according to that which has been spoken. British Foreign Office, please note. We are living far nearer than we realise to seeing the last part of Daniel chapter 11 take place, for instance. Especially verses 40 to 45 and to the fulfilment of the whole of Daniel chapter 12. They've been studying these prophecies. Which again is about something which is to take place at the time of the end. Daniel 11 verse 40 tells us that. And it tells us it has to do with something which involves the glorious land of Israel. And we should note here that when God revealed to Daniel what shall be in the latter days, He revealed to Daniel in particular what should be for Daniel's people in those latter days. Daniel's people being the people of Israel. Of course. Not the church. The people of Israel. And we'll be by any nation that is against Israel then. British Foreign Office, please note. I believe too that we are living far nearer than we realise to the time when the thrones or governments of this world shall be cast down. And the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed as is prophesied in Daniel chapter 2. And if we study that chapter 2 of the book of Daniel, it says, listen, it will happen when the authorities of the world shall cause people to mingle themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not cleave one to another even as iron is not mixed with clay. Daniel 2 verse 43. The word mixed is used three times over. I note it. Mix the seed of men. In other words it seems to speak of mixed races, the mixing of the races. And friends, if this is multi-racial language and is prophesying about various countries creating multi-racial states just before the thrones of this world are to be thrown down and the God of heaven sets up his kingdom, we must be right there. For it says in the days of these kings, Shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these other kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Hallelujah. Daniel chapter 2 verse 44. I believe therefore that we are living far nearer than we realise to the time when we shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Matthew 26 verse 64, which will be in direct fulfilment of Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. Christians pray regularly in the Lord's Prayer, Thy kingdom come. And it very soon will fit. The signs are therefore that we are fast approaching the culmination of all things. The heading up of all things. What the book of Daniel and the prophecies of Isaiah describe as the consummation And what the book of Daniel refers to at least ten times over as the time of the end, which those same prophecies say will take place at the time appointed. It is what Jesus in fact referred to as the end of the world. When last did you hear a modern preacher talk about the end of the world? Jesus often referred to the end of the world. Or sometimes he put it another way, the end of this world. Matthew 13, 39 and 40. Because my dear friends there is going to be another. The Bible talks about the world to come. Again, when did we last hear preachers preach about the world to come? We should be preparing for it my dear friends. Thank you. You see tremendous things are happening. Never has the world needed to be alerted in the way that it needs to be alerted today. That's why I'm called to sound the trumpet all over the British Isles. And as most of you here will know, I have been doing that now for some time, sounding the trumpet. If in different parts of the British Isles, right up in the Orkneys, on the east coast of Scotland, Liverpool, Harrogate, Warrington, praise the Lord, where we had a most marvellous weekend over there. Our friends will tell you all about that. Down in a place called Winslow in Buckinghamshire. And on and on it goes. And friends the purpose of sounding the trumpet is to wake people up. Thank you. It is to wake the nation up. To wake the church up in its appalling apostate state. It is to wake the leaders of the church up, archbishops and diocesan bishops included, if that were possible. It is to wake the leaders of our nation up, if only it were possible to get through to them, my dear friends, the Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister, the Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary and the like, who never mention God or bring Almighty God into any of their calculations or deliberations. It is to wake both houses of Parliament up. And even our gracious Sovereign and the heir to the throne and all the members of the Royal Family. Friends I believe that God has been speaking to the Royal Family and to the Royal House of Windsor recently. This that I'm about to say wasn't included in the Foreign Office address because something has happened since then. I have in my briefcase here a copy of a Daily Telegraph which has on its front page a photograph of Windsor Castle and of the Round Tower of Windsor Castle. And it says in that article the Round Tower of Windsor Castle is the symbol of the Royal House of Windsor. But the article on that front page goes on to say that the foundations of the Round Tower of Windsor Castle have shifted, causing windows to break and walls to crack. On the day that that article was published it was thought that it was due to some faulty reconstruction of that Round Tower that took place about 100 years ago. And the Queen herself went, was very concerned indeed, to see what was happening. But since then those who have been doing their investigations have come to another conclusion. And that is that because we have had so much rain, the rain has disturbed the foundation of the Round Tower of Windsor Castle. Friends, do you know what that means? If that is true, do you know what that means? If we had an earthquake in the Thames Basin, and the scientists are telling us that an earthquake in the British Isles is long overdue and when it happens it is likely to take place in the Thames Basin. If an earthquake takes place in the Thames Basin, what will happen? The Round Tower of Windsor Castle will collapse like a tankard. And maybe not only the Round Tower of Windsor Castle. The symbol of the Royal House of Windsor. I believe, my dear friends, God is speaking. Because do you know when that hurricane happened and so many million of trees were uprooted in the way that they were uprooted? And I'll come to that in a few minutes. It was because we had had months and months and months and months of rain in the south of England that when that hurricane swept across the land they had nothing to hold the roots in the ground, they just ripped up. Just like that. But I'll go on to say something else. On the front page of that same paper, there was a photograph of a street in the city of Norwich where as a bus was travelling down the street, the ground opened up and the bus went straight into that hole. And another great hole appeared in the ground just a few yards ahead of that first hole. And right in the forefront of the picture, my dear friends, was the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Norwich. There has been times before when God has caused the earth to open up, friends, and swallow up people. That God could cause the earth to open up and swallow up Roman Catholic Cathedrals and swallow up the round tower of Windsor Castle. I believe God is speaking to this nation in no uncertain way. And furthermore, I believe that God is speaking in no uncertain way to the Royal House of Windsor. And bless his heart, Prince Charles only missed death by a matter of inches in Switzerland the other day. And even since then, what has happened? Last Monday, in Westminster Abbey, a Commonwealth service was held where the Queen and Prince Philip were present. During which service a Hindu and a Muslim and a Buddhist and a Sikh and a Jew all actually took part in that service. And Her Majesty the Queen was giving royal sanction to multi-faith religion. God, my dear friends, is angry! And so what I have been saying so far is the purpose of sounding the trumpet is also to wake even our gracious sovereign and the heir to the throne and all the members of the royal family up. And it is to wake all truly born again Christians up also. And to wake all the unconverted people up everywhere. And to warn them all as to the momentous days in which we are living and as to what is about to happen. Are you an unsaved person here this afternoon? My dear friends, you need to come to Jesus, repent of your sin, ask God to forgive you your sin. Believe in Jesus as your own personal saviour and be gloriously born again. Of the Holy Spirit of God while there is still time. You see the scene, the scene is fast being set before our very eyes. The various pieces on the chess board as it were are visibly being moved into place as if by an unseen hand. And yet everyone everywhere seems to be absolutely oblivious of all that is happening. Fast asleep about it. So God is calling for the trumpet to be sounded out about it. God speaks to nations. God speaks to continents. God speaks to cities and God is speaking to Manchester at this present time and before very long judgment is then going to come on Manchester. I heard enough last night about Manchester that almost caused me to be awake all night. God speaks to the powers that be. Leaders and sovereigns of nations included. God speaks to parliaments. God speaks to individuals. He does not only speak to his church. Let's be absolutely clear about that at this present time. And at this time God is calling for the trumpet to be sounded out to the whole world. And particularly so as we are moving, listen, into a period of judgment. A period of judgment on the nation. Because sin and iniquity the world over are fast coming to a head. My dear friends we are certainly living in a country which is ripe for judgment. We are a nation which has thrown centuries of Christianity and Christian teaching overboard. And which has gone its own way. We are therefore a nation which has rejected Christ. A nation which has rebelled against God. And has gone so far away from God that I fear it has gone beyond the point of no return. And the signs are that the days of the United Kingdom are now numbered. We have been weighed in the balances and have been found wanting. The writing has been on the wall for some time now. Jesus said, unto whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required. And I believe that goes for nations as well as for individuals. Britain you are a nation which is living on borrowed time. Britain today is a desperately sick society. A sin sick society. In the words of Isaiah, the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying thorns. Isaiah 1, 5 to 6. A nation rotten to the core in other words. And the cause? In addition to throwing away centuries of Christianity and Christian teaching we have become a people which is now living without God. That is the root cause of all our trouble. We are a nation now which says we don't need God anymore. That is the root reason of all our troubles at this present time. And because we have become a people which is now living without God we are now in fact a Godless nation and a Godless people with a Godless society. Indeed with totally Godless political parties. All of them. None of them ever mention God in their speeches. We are an ungodly people in fact. And what does the Bible have to say about that? It says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men. Romans 1 verse 18. So we are a nation which is being visited by the wrath of God. The wrath of God has gone forth into the land. And it is expressing itself in many ways. And I believe that devastating 110 mile per hour hurricane which hit London and the south east of England last October was a manifestation of the wrath of God my friend. Thank you. Do you know that only hours before that hurricane struck it had been announced at the Conservative Party conference by no less a person than the Prime Minister that this government had made Britain strong. Once again. I challenge that statement. No nation is strong without God and without faith in God. Britain is morally corrupt, no question. And spiritually bankrupt. And from what I heard last night, Manchester is well and truly in the hands of the devil and is being directed by the devil. But it was proudly declared by the Prime Minister on that occasion we have made Britain strong once again. We are strong economically she said, strong industrially, strong technologically. We have brought about a revival. I was listening to what she said. God wasn't acknowledged in any way. We had done all this. And I said in the Foreign Office, you must never say that. Would somebody please tell her? And God just said, He blew with his wind. And in less than two hours, no less than 15 million trees had been uprooted and destroyed. All electrification and computerization had been put out of action. So much for your modern technology, said the Almighty. The City of London was put out of action whether you make all the money or lose it. The Stock Exchange had to close down. All main line stations in London were brought to a standstill and it was only a miracle of God that he got me on a train out of London the next morning in order to speak at Harrogate the next day. And there was chaos everywhere. Furthermore, I had been able to buy a copy of the Daily Telegraph on Kings Cross Station that morning. That is, immediately after the hurricane had devastated the South and devastated London. And when I got into the train, I read all the accounts of the devastation. I saw all the pictures that had been taken and produced in this paper. And then I turned to the leading article in that copy of the Daily Telegraph and it said, in John Milton's day, that hurricane would have been attributed to God expressing his immense displeasure at Britain. I should think so. But I would remind you that the God of John Milton's day is the same God today. I would also remind you that when King Nebuchadnezzar in the prophet Daniel's day proudly proclaimed on the roof of his palace is not this great Babylon that I have built. We read that while the word was still in the king's mouth there fell a voice from heaven saying the kingdom is departed from thee. Daniel 4, 13 and 31. And it happened. And the same thing could happen today, friends. You can't play around with God. You see, what this country needs to realise is that it is a nation's relationship to God that matters more than anything else. Not its achievements in terms of technological advancement, industrial prosperity, economic growth and progress, educational reforms and such like. To constantly produce lists of our achievements and proclaim them over the television as is going on today makes the heart of Almighty God sick. We are not saved by works, we are saved by grace. We are a nation which has also forsaken the Lord. And Isaiah chapter 1 verse 4 says that to do that is to provoke an holy God to anger. And that anger manifests itself in various ways, my dear friends. That is, it expresses itself in various ways. So we need to ask ourselves quite seriously was the hurricane last October a manifestation of God's anger and wrath because we have forsaken Him as a people and are saying we can manage our own affairs now? Thank you very much. Are the more recent widespread floods with farmers standing to lose tens of millions of pounds because of flattened and waterlogged crops another example of the wrath of God expressing itself? Was the stock market crash another? That being the case, my dear friends, the urgent need, listen, the urgent need is to face up to the question what needs to be done, Britain, to turn God's fierce anger away and before something worse happens. Lamentations is what is needed at this present time, my dear friends, not celebration. No matter what Christian magazine or newspaper I pick up these days, it is celebration, celebration, celebration that they are talking about. It is lamentations that are needed. We need to get down on our knees and lament and howl and mourn and weep and wring our hands because of the desperate plight that we've got ourselves in. And I was looking for some sign of lamentations taking place on last Saturday's National Day of Repentance. I haven't heard about any lamentations taking place. You might have done, but I haven't. They certainly didn't take place in the Central Hall, Westminster. But my dear friends, we are also a nation which has been defying God and which has been deliberately and willfully going against him for years now. I quote by way of example the placing of anti-God and anti-Christian laws onto our statute book, to our peril such as legalised homosexuality from a certain age which God, City of Manchester says is sin, gruesome, wicked and iniquitous. Are you hearing me? God says that and you are going to be confronted with the Almighty God on the Day of Judgement. All you who are promoting this kind of behaviour and using taxpayers' money to promote this kind of behaviour. Legalised homosexuality, I say. Easy divorce. The abolition of capital punishment. Legalised abortion which has resulted in us becoming a blood guilty nation in terms of no less than three and a quarter million living human beings being destroyed since the United Kingdom Abortion Act was passed onto our statute book in 1967. And the removing of specifically Christian education from our schools in favour of multi-faith instructions. This was delivered at the Foreign Office, I'm going to tell you. And all this despite what our Constitution commits us to and which Parliament has pledged itself to support namely to uphold to the utmost of our power the laws of God in the land and the true profession of the Christian Gospel. Parliament is committed to doing that. And Parliament has betrayed a sacred trust by defying God and by defying the laws of God and the Gospel of God in this way means that Britain is a God defying nation today and as such has got herself onto a collision course with God. In view of all this Britain needs to be reminded that 2 Chronicles chapter 15 verse 2 says and I quote The Lord is with you with you while ye be with him. That's a very encouraging word for believers present. I've stopped halfway through the verse. The Lord is with you while you be with him. But it goes on to say if ye forsake him he will forsake you. So that raises the question is Britain now a God forsaken nation as well as a Godless nation? That question should strike deep into every one of our hearts because if that is indeed the case then we are a God abandoned nation. A God abandoned nation. And if we are a God abandoned nation I have to say that Britain today has placed herself in a position of very grave danger indeed. She is in mortal peril. Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Secretary issued a grim warning several months ago. He said and I quote Europe must look to its own defences if America withdrew all its forces from the continent and from Britain as a result of a nuclear free Europe being brought about. Were that to happen friends Britain would be left on her own. But do you know something? A Russian born writer and journalist now living in Britain Andrei Navarzov issued a warning in a Times article on December the 7th of last year by saying that if the INF Treaty were verified to bring about the absence of nuclear missile deterrence in Western Europe listen it would be an open invitation to the Soviet rulers to begin their move westward which they have always intended to do anyway but which they cannot do so long as one of the Western European nations is capable of annihilating their invading armour by means of its short and medium range nuclear missiles. Britain was left on her own before after Dunkirk but God was with her then but what would happen now? If we are now a God abandoned nation because we have abandoned him the question is would God abandon Britain to her fate and allow her to be taken over by communist forces from outside and from the inside? That's what Manchester City local authorities are aiming at. So Ezekiel chapter 3 is therefore very relevant indeed to this situation. If I bring the sword upon an end in judgement a watchman must arise and sound the trumpet and warn the people lest the people get engulfed in the takeover die in their sins and come up for judgement unsafe. That's what the gospel is all about. So you see we have certainly become a country which is ripe for judgement today but we are most certainly living today in a world which is ripe for judgement. The Bible has long foretold that this is what would happen. God is going to judge the world friends. God is going to pour out his wrath upon the whole earth and Daniel 8 verse 23 says it will be when the transgressors are come to the full. When sin and iniquity have come to a head worldwide in other words have reached their peak and that must be just about now. For instance we are most certainly living today as in the days of Noah with an earth which is filled with violence and when the wickedness of man is great in the earth and when the earth is corrupt before God corruption is everywhere and we are very much living as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah with sodomy and lesbianism rearing their ugly heads everywhere. Our daily and local newspapers are full of it and even some of the world's authorities are now taking the side of that kind of behaviour with no less than 15,000 homosexuals and lesbians demonstrating in Manchester in favour of promoting it all. I ask where are we? Right down there in the gutter in the mud, in the mire in the filth. Jesus you will remember said that this condition of things would be one of the signs of the nearness of his second coming. He said as in the days of Noah and as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah so shall the coming of the son of man be. It's all heralding the time when he's about to return my dear friend. I say we must be almost there. From what I heard last night about Manchester it must be right on top of us. But the real point on which we must be focusing our attention in these latter days my dear friends is the Middle East. The Middle East is the powder keg today and that powder keg could blow up at any minute. I have already stressed that we are living very near to the time of the end. And the Bible says at the time of the end an invasion of Israel will take place. That is what Daniel chapter 11 verses 40 to 45 and on into chapter 12 is all about. Read those last two chapters of Daniel when you get back home if you don't know what they say. That is also what Ezekiel 38 and 39 are all about. And my dear friends all my sources in the Middle East tell me that no matter which way you look at the situation in the Middle East today the scene is being set for the fulfilment of the war which is prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39. That's what they're saying. That is why I say we may be living far nearer to that than we think. And an imposed peace on Israel my dear friends would bring about the very conditions that are required for the fulfilment of Ezekiel 38 and 39. Did you know that? I am told that the danger of sudden war against Israel at the moment is enormous and may be from at least three directions. Take Syria for instance. President Assad of Syria has publicly declared four or five times over his avowed determination and purpose to annihilate Israel. And he is a man who never changes his mind. Israel herself has been warned for months now by its Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Chief of Staff about a sudden unexpected attack from Syria at any minute. The signs also are that Syria now believes that she is in a position to take on Israel and win. Furthermore Israel has been receiving warnings from all over the world of some huge military conflagration that is coming from her north. And Syria is to her immediate north. And Daniel chapter 11 verses 40 to 45 is about an invasion of Israel by somebody who is described as the King of the North who will come against Israel with great fury at the time of the end. So we may be living far nearer to the fulfilment of that prophecy than we think and to all that follows in Daniel chapter 12 which includes incidentally, Daniel chapter 12 the resurrection of the dead the righteous to everlasting life and the wicked to eternal damnation. It's Daniel chapter 12. Then the Soviet Union is also committed to the annihilation of Israel. But I haven't time to expand on that right now. But the focal point at this very moment is the Gulf War. That is the Iran-Iraq War. The Iranian forces are at the moment engaged in a war of attrition to wear down the Iraqi forces ready for launching their long heralded final offensive for which they are holding no less than 75 divisions in reserve. Now the Eritrea has publicly declared that the aim of the Iranian armies is not just to take Basra. The aim of the Iranian armies is to destroy the armies of Iraq. And when they have done that they will make straight for Jerusalem with its conquest in mind. Liquidate the state of Israel in the process and make Jerusalem the Islamic capital of the Middle East. Now my dear friends, supposing that were to happen what inevitably would have to take place? First, the United States is committed to go to the aid of Israel. So one superpower would be drawn in. Secondly, all the Arab countries would have to decide what they were going to do. Syria for instance, Libya, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Arab Emirates and so on. Syria in any case is already amassing her armies on the Golan Heights and elsewhere ready for a surprise attack against Israel. Thirdly, the Soviet Union is committed to back Syria and all the Arab states. And she would no doubt advance on the Middle East and on Israel through Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Both superpowers would therefore be drawn in and immediately, immediately we would be confronted with the kind of situation which is described in the book of Zechariah chapter 14 verses 1 and 2 and with everything else that follows in that chapter. Zechariah chapter 14 verses 1 and 2 which says Behold the day of the Lord cometh for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. Hence that day of the Lord would have arrived and the world would be holding its breath. What then my dear friends is God saying to the nations today? The message is quite clear. The message to the people of the world is, that means to all unsaved people of the world is God commands, commands all men everywhere to repent. Repent, because he has appointed a day in which he is going to judge the world by that man whom he has ordained whereof he has given assurance to all men in that he has raised him from the dead. Bishop of Durham please notice. God has appointed a day when God is going to judge the world by Jesus Christ. In other words, this was the original message which Jesus gave his disciples to preach. Did you know that? This is the way that Jesus commanded the gospel always to be preached because God is going to judge the world by Jesus. The apostle Peter made that claim when he said in Acts chapter 10 verse 12 he commanded us to preach to the people. To preach what to the people? The next verse tells you. He commanded us to preach to the people that it was Jesus which was ordained of God to be the judge of the living and of the dead. So that is what God is saying to the people of the world today friends. He commands all men everywhere to repent because he is going to judge the world by Jesus. So they need and we need to get right with God and make sure that we are in fellowship with God and walking with God and walking in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is the message to all believers? Do you remember all this? What is the message to all true believers? Do you remember all this? Well I will tell you. Jesus gave the answer. When ye see these things begin to come to pass begin to come to pass? They are more than beginning to come to pass my dear friends but Jesus said when ye see these things begin to pass then look up! Lift up your heads! For the day of your redemption draweth nigh. And that means the day when all true believers will be caught up into heaven to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. Do you know my dear friends it could happen tonight? It could happen before you even had a chance to get back home. Tonight. Jesus said because you don't know the time, when you need always be ready! Be ready! For the person who is holding the trumpet in his pulpit right now stands it again by saying be ready! Be ready! Are you ready for the Lord Jesus when he comes? I'd like just to read a few verses from Zechariah chapter 14 where it says Behold the day of the Lord cometh and thy spoil O Jerusalem shall be divided in the midst of thee for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished and half of the city shall go into captivity and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east and towards the west and there shall be a very great valley and half of the mountain shall remove towards the north and half of it shall move towards the south and ye shall flee to the valley of the mountain and it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to pass that at eventide it shall be light and in that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem half of them towards the former sea and half of them towards the hinder sea in summer and in winter shall it be and the Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day there shall be one Lord and his name one and what is happening at the present moment in the Middle East today is this point number one an Islamic fundamentalist empire is fast emerging like the ancient empires of Assyria and then later of Babylon it has been beginning as a trickle almost unnoticed but like the ancient empires of Assyria and then later the empire of Babylon it is growing and expanding until like the ancient empires of Assyria and above Babylon it will eventually take over the whole of the Middle East that is what is taking place at the moment so that was point number one point number two is this large areas of Russia, Asia and the Middle East are alive today with Islamic fundamentalism and this is making a lot of trouble for the Soviet Union Armenia and the Armenians for instance are traditionally Christians as you know there have been serious uprisings in Armenia recently Moscow has been making efforts to appease the Armenians this has resulted in anti-Moscow upheavals within the Islamic Soviet Republic Russia now therefore has the following dilemma on her hands if Russia on the one hand offends the Armenians by refusing to concede to what they are demanding very serious troubles from the Armenians will result if Russia on the other hand concedes to the Armenians then there will be worse trouble in the Islamic areas of the Soviet Union unless something quite spectacular occurs so the Politburo now has to decide what to do point number three what Russia is intent on in any case is to take the Gulf and take the Suez Canal and throw Israel into the sea by totally destroying her because Russia has an overwhelming desire to control the Gulf and Suez the prevailing opinion in Moscow therefore is that in order to appease Islam Russia could offer Islam so spectacular a prize that it would unify Islam throughout the Islamic regions of the Soviet Union thus disquieting all this unrest and at the same time give Russia what she wants with regard to the Gulf, the oil states and the Suez Canal and what should that spectacular prize that Russia should offer Islam be? Answer Jerusalem and all those concerned know full well that no part of the Islamic community could possibly refuse that prize if that happened my friends a lot would then fall into place and fall into place prophetically and it is believed that Russia intends to play that Islamic card and maybe quite soon such is the direction therefore which great affairs are now taking us that Jerusalem of all issues is fast becoming the crucial one just as the Bible said it would point four Mr. Schultz we are told, that's the American Defense Minister is well aware of all that is involved though he has been making strenuous efforts to find a solution to the Middle East problem but the position is this Islam on the one hand will never agree to a plan which does not include their having Jerusalem Israel on the other hand will never agree to a plan that does include Islam having Jerusalem Russia is being urged by that prevailing opinion in Moscow to offer Jerusalem to Islam the United States and the rest of the Atlantic powers cannot offer it to Islam the alternative facing the Soviet Union would be for them to become pro-Israel and in favor of Israel retaining Jerusalem but if that happened there would be revolution all over Islamic Russia Israel herself could not provide Russia with control of the Gulf and of the Suez Canal even if she were able to do that because the entire Middle East would explode in violent anti-Russianism if Russia supported Israel so Russia is being pressurized by that prevailing opinion in Moscow to appease Islam by offering it the spectacular prize of Jerusalem as the prize of peace within her Islamic region she dare not offend Islam which demands and insists upon kicking the Israelis out of Jerusalem as well as from the West Bank and Gaza while Syria demands that Israel be kicked out of the Golan Heights at the same time the PLO insists upon an independent armed Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital but the United States and the other Atlantic powers dare not permit that because they know it would mean a Russian satellite sitting on the canal and controlling it moreover, no American administration and this is very significant no American administration at this time would dare to offend what is called the Evangelical Movement of America's vote which they are well aware believes the Jews have a Biblical right to Palestine and to Jerusalem if the United States and the other Atlantic powers therefore feel themselves compelled to support Israel and Russia feels equally constrained to support Islam and so it will be then it will follow that a severe confrontation will occur so where does all this place us my friend? well it places us right in the book of Zechariah chapter 12 this time verses 2 and 3 where God says and I'm quoting behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the seats both against Judah and against Jerusalem and in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people a burdensome stone for all people I will do it says God all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it God said I will do it make it a burdensome stone he will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people it is all part of his plan his divine plan and we are seeing it happen friends it is actually taking place it is actually taking place today we are right there in these days isn't that enough to tell you that we are living at the end of the ages the end of these ages because my dear friends there are other ages to come let nobody say God has no future plan for Israel let nobody say he has finished with them all he is interested in now is calling out his church let me tell you this not only has God a future plan for Israel God has a future plan for Jerusalem also let me close this session by reading to you the first part of Isaiah chapter 2 Isaiah chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 Isaiah chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 the word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem and it shall come to pass in the last days notice that phrase in the last days it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountain and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow into it and many people shall go and say come ye let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem and he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nations shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more my dear friends that hasn't happened yet it has still to happen and according to Athabas passage of the Bible it will happen when the Lord has returned and when the Lord shall be king over all the earth and when the Lord is reigning from Jerusalem God not only has a future plan for Israel he has a future plan for Jerusalem also my dear friends the last verse of the book of Ezekiel says this in that day that city Jerusalem shall be called the Lord is there that's why all these people want to go up to Jerusalem and worship isn't that wonderful I guess they are going to have a free passage also shall we pray thank you Lord for all that you reveal to us of your word and thank you for showing us that you have not only a plan a future plan for your chosen people Israel but you have a future plan for Jerusalem also that city of which you have said that is the place that I shall set my name there thank you Lord for your revelation in Jesus name Amen