"God raiseth up and puts on thrones whom..."

Dear Christian Friend,

"God raiseth up and puts on thrones whom He willeth," says the prophet," and casts down whom He chooseth."

Here it is 1986 and the fortune tellers and pseudo seers are making their forecasts of what will come in 1986. The pundits are trusting in their analysis, and the generals and the administrations put their confidence in a powerful defense.

You and I of the little flock, Bible people, know that it is not by sword or powerful armies, but "by My Spirit", saith the Lord. The defense of the city is not by its high walls with their watchmen.

We can all look forward into the New Year with confidence and peace for God has promised to take care of you who love His Word and look forward to His coming. The Gospel is being preached in campaigns small and great in every state, with evangelists and missionaries sent into every country of the world. Where that is forbidden the Gospel still enters by short wave radio along with personal evangelism by heroic believers. So, let us rejoice, for His coming draweth near.

We gave double amounts in December to more native evangelists than ever before, not only to those we call "ours" but to many others we have met and found their work to be blessed of God, sincere, fundamental, and self-sacrificing. Since then a stream of reports from people have come back to thank us and report on their latest meetings. Likewise, material supplies were given to the poor, milk for the children and clothes and shoes for each of the kids at the Christian Children's Refuge. They give their grateful thanks, but they should be thanking you. I only pass along what you and others have sent. Since some special amounts or double amounts came in, I just passed it along. I can only pass along their thanks and prayers to you, trusting the Lord will thank you, rewarding with blessings both material and spiritual for every sacrifice make in His name, showering you with His rich blessings throughout the coming year.

Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar that God represented him as the Head of Gold with more power than any other individual king before or after. He then reminded him to keep humble because it was God who raised up and put down, and that Nebuchadnezzar had been raised up as an instrument or tool to serve God's purposes. The king remembered for a while, but later he looked out at the city he had built saying, "Is not this great Babylon which I have built?" Babylon had been a city built in a dull and monotonous area, but the king with his abundance of laborers, slaves, power, and money had raised up a mountain there in the midst of the plain, had designed fountains and waterfalls sparkling over it even to the summit, and brought rare flowering trees and birds from all quarters of his realm, which was then all of the known world. The brilliant, powerful, and intelligent king was struck by madness and driven into the fields to live with the oxen.

Ever since then, God has been raising up one empire after another to serve His purposes. Those who respect God and His Word are blessed, but when they forget God and take pride in their prosperity or intelligence, they are cast down and their turn given to another.

A historian points out that the twenty-five year reign of Elizabeth I saw a sudden brilliant growth of a small and tight little isle, which steadily developed into the British Empire. It was so worldwide the sun never set, continuing with world pre-eminence for centuries, but which has been broken up until it is now a diminishing little isle.

What caused Britain to grow so dramatically in so short a time? Spain and France had been the dominant kingdoms. Then along in the 1500's the light of the Reformation began to spread more and more over all Europe. Small groups in every country began to feel the reality and personal power of God's Salvation as the Bible was made available. The powerful, vice ridden, Church of Rome, fought the light and the revival, at first by burning the Bibles. When that failed, they burned the believers, or heretics as they labeled any who testified to a personal experience of the saving power of the Lord. But, while the priests and authorities tortured and killed believers until the remnants fled from those countries, England was different. The believers there for many years had to suffer similarly, but the Revival was so widespread, God brought about a change. Old Henry VIII and other nobles of his court thought they had made the change, but they were just as sinful as the rulers of France and Spain. When the rulers of England proclaimed freedom from Rome, they were actually just puppets moved by God because of the prayers of the many Bible people growing all over Britain. His daughter, Elizabeth I, was more knowledgeable about court etiquette with flattering ministers rather than statesmanship. Suddenly, the little English ships were sweeping the great galleons of Spain and France off the seas. The Spanish sent priests steadily with their conquistadors, but the English carried the Bible. We all know that the US has an army of missionaries and evangelists going all over the world. In bygone centuries it was Britain that sent out the Bible missionaries. But alas, in time, they lost their evangelical fervor. There was pride and greed. The Anglican Church was too nominal and worldly.

An old British missionary to India told me years ago that the biggest hindrance to the spread of the Gospel, the thing that always saddened him the most, was that the English presence in India was so un-Christian, although they called themselves Christian, while calling the poor natives heathen. The English had the money and the power, the businesses and political power, but their personal lives were godless, immoral, full of sexual affairs, and heavy drinking.

God chose Israel to be His people. He wanted them to prove faithful and then in His time they could send missionaries and evangelists to the world. But, they were not faithful and God had them broken up and carried away captive. God miraculously raised up Great Britain to spread the Bible and the Gospel, which they did for a while. Then failing in the calling, their Empire was broken up until the "little isle" is but a shadow of its former pre-eminence.

Now, God has blessed the US as it has sent and is sending such a great tidal wave of the Gospel to all the world. May the Lord bless you as you pray and sacrifice to have part in His movement.

Sadly, the evils in the US are growing also, with every kind of vice on the increase, sexual immorality abounding, like Sodom and Gomorrah. God's wrath is burning against them, but He is holding back the winds of tribulation because of the faithful believers who are dedicated to Him, with all their resources, money, and talent devoted to Jesus and the salvation of poor souls who still may come to know Jesus as their Saviour.

May God continue to bless your work and your prayers in the coming year and years until He comes. MARANATHA. Come, Lord Jesus.

Yours in Him,

Orland Wolfram