In our last article we carefully observed how Satan became the “prince power of the air.” Although this event seems to have taken place at his fall, since then, he has endeavored to become part of the workings of man on earth. As men began increasing on the planet, various sins became prominent; some of these are exampled in Genesis 6 (the time of the Flood) and Genesis 11 (the Tower of Babel). More and more, men sought to collaborate with this “prince power of the air” in order to become greater authorities and powers in the earth. Through this allegiance, Satan became the “god of this world.” …

In chapter 9, Daniel wondered if the times of the Gentiles would soon be over, at least concerning the deliverance of the Jews. Nevertheless, he learned that another seventy weeks of years were appointed for them. During this appointed “Times of the Gentiles,” what would be the relationship now between the Gentiles and the Jews? This burden culminates in chapter 12, where Daniel is told of a coming time, a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation of Israel. The nation of Israel has had several times of great trouble throughout its history leading up to this final trouble prophesied; these times must be noted with care. …

Continuing our burden from the Book of Daniel, in this article we are drawn to chapter 10, the beginning of a vision of Daniel that continues unbroken to the end of the book. In this chapter Daniel is once again seen as a man who would not cease from prayer. Previously in chapter 6, when threatened with the lion’s den, this prophet continued to engage in his holy vocation of prayer. He never ceased from praying; he never vacated his devotions to his God. It was through this channel of prayer that Daniel kept in touch with heaven and by which he received his revelations of coming events. Without his habit of prayer Daniel would have succumbed to being a typical Jew in the captivity. Prayer opened heaven to his prophetic gaze and unrolled the panorama of coming events to his sight. In chapter 9, for example, during Daniel’s daylong prayer God revealed to him the vision of the seventy weeks. This vision has become a critical key-insight concerning the End Time for the Christian. How we must all watch and pray! …

No other book in the Bible has been attacked like the Book of Daniel. Since Porphyry, a Syrian, some 1700 years ago, the book has been in the Critic’s Den. Porphyry claimed that instead of being written by Daniel about 533 B.C., it was a forgery written in the time of the Maccabees about 168 B.C., after Antiochus Epiphanes (whose appearance is so clearly foretold in the book), in order to comfort the Jews in their trying times. Ironically, the Septuagint (the Greek rendering of the Old Testament) of 285 B.C. included the Book of Daniel, over one hundred years before the critics declared its writing. …

As a preacher of the Gospel, I am becoming more aware of the fact that I may be preaching to the last generation of young men and women before the coming of Christ in a rapture as well as the coming of Antichrist and the final kingdom of man in prophecy. It is the worst, the darkest, and the most deceptive generation of human history. It may well be the prelude generation before the coming of the Tribulation Period. This is why it is crucial that God’s remnant people today come to an understanding of the Book of Daniel. …

The powers converging on the planet Earth should cause every true Christian to be in a posture of watching and praying, yea, in a posture of readiness for the coming of our Glorious Saviour. This Blessed Hope should ever be purifying our souls as part of the preparation for that event in which He will call us unto Himself. The burden for the next few articles in Straightway will be drawn from the Old Testament prophet Daniel concerning what the Lord permitted him to see down through the ages of time. …

Christ makes it very plain in this epistle to the messenger of the church of the Laodiceans that lukewarmness is a spiritual state or condition. It is evident the pastor was to reveal to his congregation that they were in a state of lukewarmness. Although there is the implication that this condition possibly could change, it seems clear by the end of the epistle that they will choose not to change. The statement is obvious: “I will,” or in the original Greek, “I am about, I’m on the verge, I’m at the point of spewing you out of my mouth.” The church of the End Time is in a state of lukewarmness, a state far more dangerous than coldness. The state of lukewarmness is another term in the Bible for apostasy. …

In the previous article we observed that Christ addresses His message of Revelation 3:14–22 to the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans. He declares to this messenger that his congregation has become “lukewarm.” The Greek word used here for lukewarm occurs only this one time in the New Testament; it carries the meaning of “tepid water.” In this address Christ refers to three different spiritual states: a state of coldness, a state of warmth or fervor, and a state of lukewarmness. There are many in the world who are cold to the things of Christ; the Gospel leaves them totally unmoved and uninterested as to any aspect of spiritual fervor. Every believer once knew this cold state that gave no evidence of grace. By contrast, those who are described as hot are ones who show genuine spiritual fervor and leave no question as to the presence of eternal life, the sanctifying power, and the presence of the Holy Spirit; they have a fervent testimony. …

The Book of Revelation, like the Book of Daniel, is apocalyptic. Apocalyptic is a term meaning “to unveil” or “to uncover” and thus “to reveal” something which has been beforehand hidden. Apocalyptic writings are usually written in times of trouble and distress of God’s people. It becomes evident from reading this particular apocalyptic book that persecution and difficulty were already threatening the Church. Both without and within, serious problems and sufferings were present. …

Coming to the fourth article in this edition concerning Post Fundamentalism, we must be cognizant of what the Scriptures say concerning the End Time. Sad but true, Fundamentalism as a movement is in the final throes of entering into its own apostasy. When Fundamentalism began, it was a pure river with the call from heaven to stand without apology for the Faith “once delivered unto the saints.” Its early leaders knew the Liberals and Modernists were trying to arrest the Faith and spread its own faith through its seminaries into the pulpits of the denominations. How often we read in Scripture, “And in process of time it came to pass.” Often this phrase marks a change for the worse. …