THE RISE OF THE REMNANT AND THE FALL OF THE CHURCH!

Mat 14:14 And Jesus went out and saw a great crowd, and He was moved with compassion toward them. And He healed their sick.
Mat 14:15 And evening coming on, His disciples came to Him, saying, The place is deserted and the time has already gone by. Send the crowd away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
Mat 14:16 But Jesus said to them, They do not need to leave, you give them something to eat.
Mat 14:17 And they said to Him, We have here only five loaves and two fish.
Mat 14:18 And He said, Bring them here to Me.

There is a great multitude today who are desperately hungry and thirsty. All over the world the people dwell in great darkness and the darkness increases every day. Hell has opened its vaults and is beginning to spew out evil with increasing speed and urgency because it knows its time is short. There is desperate darkness coming and it is coming at us with alarming speed. Yet, as in the time of Noah, the world is ignorant of the impending disaster about to befall it. Like the children of Israel when Jesus says ” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”

Jesus wept because He knew that less than forty years after His death and resurrection that the whole system would come tumbling down. The Temple would be destroyed and the Israelites would be no more as a nation and they had absolutely no idea.

In those days, it was unimaginable that their Temple, their country, their way of life would be swept away and that they would be scattered to the four corners of the earth. Can you imagine our Democratic system being washed away? Can you imagine the fall of America? Why is that thought any harder to comprehend? Can you imagine the Church system being swept away?

In 1940, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) found itself routed. It had been sent to Europe to aid the French and the Belgians against the might of the German army. Yet, the strongest army in the world failed. The Germans pursued them and only a gallant rear guard action allowed most of the British to escape and head toward the coast in a full retreat. They congregated at a town called Dunkirk. In that small port town, there were over 400,000 allied troops, British, French and Belgians. Disaster was staring Britain in the face. What was about to unfold was nothing less than the destruction of the bulk of the British forces and conditional surrender to the Germans was discussed by the politicians back in Britain. In an act of desperation, Churchill called for a national day of prayer. All over Britain the church bells rang out and Christians cried out to God in prayer to save the men.

Inexplicably, Hitler stopped his forces from advancing, this lasted three days. Historians to this day have no idea why he stopped, One theory was that it was at the advice of his astrologer. Another was that the Luftwaffe and the Vermacht argued over who would have the glory of finishing of the might of the British army, one more theory was that Hitler hoped to negotiate with, and neutralize the British. What we do know was that he stopped his advance long enough for the Brits to initiate ” Operation Dynamo.’ Now you Greek scholars out there know that the Greek word for power is dynamus. It is ironic to me that the operation would be named this. Here we have the mightiest force the world has ever seen, the British navy. It was to be sent over to attempt to rescue as many men as they could from the beaches.

They knew they faced an almost impossible task and even by their own estimations, they believed that they may have only been able to save between 20,0000 to 50,000. Their greatest fear was that they would be bombed in the harbor and have ships sunk thus rendering the harbor useless. After three days Hitler ordered his troops on the move again. And so , with great desperation “Operation Dynamo,” swung into action. And every day that passed the Germans came closer and closer and every day the Luftwaffe bombed the soldiers on the beaches and the British navy mercilessly. And of course, the greatest fear of the British came to pass. Boats sunk in the harbor rendered the harbor useless. Now all seemed lost.

In one last ditch desperate effort, a call was sent out to everyone near the English channel in Britain who had a small boat. They were asked if they had a boat that could manage the crossing (infamously treacherous waters, 22 miles wide) to cross over and save whoever they could. And so, an armada of small boats, fishing boats, pleasure boats, tug boats, pulling behind rowing boats began to cross the waters. The waters were reported to be strangely calm. Incredibly, in the next several days, they managed to take 340,000 men of the beach. Where the might of the British army had failed, where the strongest force the world have ever known, the British navy failed, God used an armada of “little ships,” to save the western world from complete destruction. You have to remember that it was from Britain that “D Day,’ was launched. If the Brit’s had been destroyed at that time, most of the Western world would have forever fallen under the shadow and the jack-boot of some of the most evil men the world has ever known.

Now brothers and sisters, I want you to think of this true story as an analogy. This great evil that is engulfing our world in these the final days are like the Germans bearing down on those hundreds and thousands of soldiers. The soldiers are the multitude. The British Navy is the Established church. The small ships are the Remnant. The British Navy, were shown to be powerless. The Established church is just as powerless. The end is fast approaching and we are looking at a Church that has proven itself to be powerless. Powerless to reach the lost, powerless to stand effectively in this day of evil. A church without the power and the presence of God. What moved the hand of God in this story? It was the prayers of the saints. Who did God use to rescue the soldiers on the beaches? He used the “Little ships.” And the little ships may well ask in this present day” who are we that God could use us?” God will use His Remnant people. God’s Remnant people are like those little ships. Willing to go and face what seemed like certain death in order to rescue the ‘ multitude.’ The Lord took five loaves and two fish and fed a multitude. He took a tiny amount of food in His hand and He broke it and He fed it to the multitude. God will take a small amount of people, break them, and use them to feed the hungry souls and to give water to the thirsty. Has the Lord broken you? Have you yielded to the hand of God? God is raising up a small army, a small armada of ” small ships,’ broken yielded vessels to do His work and He will receive all the honor and the glory.

If you have been broken, if you ” love not your souls unto death,’ then it is time to cast yourselves into the waters of life. There is a multitude out there desperate and dying. Their future is certain without the help of the little ships. There is a force of darkness bearing down on the world right now and it will sweep away the world as we know it. Only the broken of the Lord will be a power on the earth. Only the Remnant of God’s people will be a light in the darkness. Now is the time brothers and sisters. Lift up your heads, our salvation draws nigh……………..brother Frank