By Rev. John W. Shenton

"Yet I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion" Psalms 2:6.Supreme Crisis Ahead.However the serious minded reader looks at the situation whether on a world scale or the situation at home, one cannont but have an inner feeling that we are headed towards not just another crises BUT THE SUPREME CRISIS OF THE AGES.This is not mere scaremongering, all the signs are with us. Signs we have deliberately chosen to ignore, although they have been given to us in clear unmistakeable language by our Creator in His Guide Map-The Bible, by His Prophets, His Apostles and above all, by His Sovereign Royal Son, Yahoshua the Messiah. They are there for all to read and be guided by them, but we have preferred to ignore the signs and go our own ways and now we find that our own ways lead to dead ends! And we have passed the point of no return.

While men Slept.WHILE MEN SLEPT! An oft repeated Divine Warning, and yet, how many important history making events have happened WHILE MEN SLEPT? Our American readers should never forget what happened at Pearl Harbor WHILE MEN SLEPT! We here in the United Kingdom have been lulled and drugged to sleep while EVIL MEN having crept in unawares and have gone about their evil ways. This in spite of the constant cry of the God of our fathers to "AWAKE! AWAKE!". But in our sleep and dreaming, the enemy has been at work, although the warning has been given often, loud and clear. In front of me is an old newspaper report of how the enemy infiltrated key positions in all walks of life so they have a tight grip on the throat and jugular vein of the whole nation. Control, so that the nation can be destroyed and captured from within. Are we so blind as not to see the real significance of what is happening in our midst right now? We are sure many of our older readers never thought that they would live to see what is happening in this once morally and spiritually influential country of ours. The Media flaunt filth and trivia and trash before us hour by hour, day by day. It brings to mind the parable of the prodigal son who became so poor that he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat.

It is truly a tragic sight to behold a once great and mighty nation feeding at the swine trough. Happily for the prodigal son he did "come to himself", he saw the plight for what it was. Can we do the same atthis late hour?

The Downgfall of Empires and PeoplesIt is a strange story yet true, that we as a people we seem to learn only the hard way. The past seems to have no meaning for us. Take that little and unknown book Nahum, hidden to most people away in the Old Testament. But it is necessary reading for today for it teaches the causes which either buildup or destroy. People do the same today. For the causes are written by the Creator into the very nature of reality and we cannot go against reality and win. Nahum tells of the decline and fall of Nineveh, a great world power, with it's seething population, with it's burning greed of gain, and with it's vast trading arms ever reaching out to grasp the treasures of the earth.

But notice also the moral and spiritual condition of Nineveh! Note them well; "lies", "robbery", "witchcrafts", and "filth", and it is these very things which hasten the Day of Judgement and doom.

Don't Dodge the SignificanceCheck up the words of the prophet. "Woe to the bloody city! It is full of lies." Moral values are no longer real; there is a mere covering up, a moral cosmetic. Truth is no longer lived up to or embodied. And this had gone on to produce"a greed for gain," and another sin, the love of display, or mere outward show. She thought fine feathers make fine birds! Thus life took on a veneer and gaudy show. "Truth had fallen in the streets."

"Woe to the bloody city, it is full of lies and robbery." When TRUTH is ignored, not accepted as a moral standard, when it's beauty is shunned, then life becomes a weird scene of moral chaos. "And is the mistress of witchcrafts," that is to say, she acknowledges no Divine Reality of Revealed Faith and Standards, no Divine Soveriegnty, so goes after and accepts all the weird inventions of self willed living. For all self willed living and self centered behaviour bring dire consequences. These cannot be escaped if man insists upon being his own God.

The Forgotten FactorThe prophet now comes to the most important factor in the whole scene," AND YAHWEH SAID..." We urge our readers to examine this book and note that the God revealed there is no absentee sitting idle in far off outer space. Mark well the prophet's description of the ACTIVITY OF THE ALMIGHTY LIVING GOD. Note how he supports the Divine Declaration elsewhere:"Yahweh hath established His Throne in the Heavens HIS KING DOTH RULETH OVER ALL." And note well something you will never hear of in these days of sentimentalized so called Christian faith,"GOD IS FURIOUS!" When did you last hear a sermon on this aspect of the Everliving God? Always whether it be in the press or on television, the one text sent forth always without fail is "God is Love", as if this is the only text which makes up holy writ. And how few stop to realize if God were not HOLY He could not be love? If He were not LAW, He could not be love. If He were not GRACE, He could not be love. And if He were not at times FURIOUS, he could not be love.

Love is not the first attribute of God, it is the fifth!

Fortunately, whatever view we take of God He is always in control. And unbelief is always unreasonable, inexcuseable and reprehensible. This is God's world. We are living in His house.He has packed this world with all the good things necessary for the good life He planned we should have. But alas, men prefer their own way toward their own ruin.

Note from the prophecy how the deterioration goes on so slowly but so surely. Sin against the One True God brings a kind of stupefication and a deep sleep comes over a once great nation. Remember,"As it was in the days of Noah until he entered the ark and judgement came, AND THEY KNEW IT NOT." When sin bites deep into a nation the people become numb to the lessons of history. They become blind to THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. They become deaf to the sound of coming judgement. Alas, Nineveh met her doom.

LESSONWhat has all this have to do with us today? looking back on the judgement, not only of Nineveh but all other great empires and peoples, it surely is that above else in life we ought to make quite sure we are living to please Yahweh God and in a world such as this to be assured of His friendship, help and deliverance. For as all the prophets warned:" It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God", when we are living in open rebellion against Him and His Holy Righteous Laws. The bible says that our God is a consuming fire. Will we learn our lesson in time? Can we?

Lost Our WaySomehow, most of our brethren have lost their way on life's journey. Millions of people are feeling much like when the great explorer, Rear Admiral Richard Bird, lost his bearings in the Anarctic night, the awful realization came over him that he had missed the way:" I knew that I was lost and I was sick inside." Is it not true that that many today feel mentally. spiritually and physically sick because they know that they are lost. They are like the blind man tapping his way along the pavement- tapping their way from event to event trying to find their way home. I suppose the mandate of all who know the truth is to help the blind find not just A way, but THE way, THE WAY OF REALITY THAT GOD HAS WRITTEN INTO THE VERY STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE ITSELF. There is one great sickness and that is homesickness.

And yet home is so close because we christians have the three greatest things in the universe. We have 1) THE GREATEST PERSON,YAHWEH'S ANNOINTED KING, which no power in hell can remove. 2) YAHWEH'S GREATEST PROGRAM,THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH AND IT'S PERFECT LAWS, 3) YAHWEH'S GREATEST POWER, THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO HELP AND GUIDE. Our mission is to help those who are homesick to understand the sheer beauty of the Kingdom and to help them find THE WAY.