FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

WHY AM I SURPRISED?

It’s very hard for me to describe my feelings-perhaps a sense of awe, humility, and gratitude? -when I think about the wonderful opportunity God has given to my husband and me to reach around the world each week with the gospel. I definitely believe the Holy Spirit impressed Jack to find a format that so many people watch.

When we first knew we were going to have a program that would be beamed around the world, we had prayerfully planned an unusual approach that seemed really exciting. Then, about a week before we were to start production, Jack came to me and said, “Rexella, I believe we are to do a different format. I sense that we are to gather news from around the world-global headlines-and connect them to the Word of God.

With all my heart, I believe the Lord directed my husband in that decision. Today we get hundreds of pounds of mail every week from viewers who ordinarily would not watch a church-related or religious program. One day we walked into a restaurant and were recognized by a group of some twenty Jewish people. “Oh, Dr. and Rexella,” they said, “we love your program and try to tune in every week!”

In the same restaurant, we met a smaller group of Arab people who smiled and said, “Thank you for your program-we appreciate it so much!”

I was also stopped by the wife of a state senator who said, “I don’t know if you know this, Rexella, but the first thing on the agenda of many of the senators on Monday morning is to get together over coffee and discuss your program!”

On the street in Toronto not too long ago, we were stopped by a Muslim man who said, “Many people in our community here watch your telecast often-we enjoy it so much.” I couldn’t help asking, “Why are you attracted to a Christian program that presents the gospel and quotes the words of Jesus? Why would you want to watch that?”

His answer was so humbling-“We trust you!”

So many calls and letters we receive are from people like this who might never go to church or watch another religious program. Our media consultants (who also work with numerous other ministries) say that we are seeing more response to the invitation for salvation than perhaps any other program on the air today.

Many people write to say, “We couldn’t make it through our week without hearing your analysis and encouragement.”

And not long ago I got a letter that brought tears to my eyes. A young girl who had decided to commit suicide was flipping through the TV channels and stopped on our program. She wrote, “Rexella, you looked straight into the camera at me and said, ‘God cares about you…and so do I!’ That changed my whole thinking…and saved my life.”

Preparing for the promised days

Jack and I pray earnestly as we prepare for each program. We are keenly aware of the responsibility that is ours because we truly believe that we are living in the days just prior to the coming of the Lord. We don’t like to use the phrase “last days” because it’s not a countdown to the world ending. Actually, it’s the promised days-just before Christ will come back to earth, set up His kingdom, and stop all the mayhem and madness. It will be the beginning of a thousand years of peace on the earth.

I believe we are now living in the time the Bible refers to as the “hour of temptation” that will come upon all the world and try those who live on planet earth (see Revelation 3:10). But Jesus surely is coming very soon!

When is He coming? Each week on television, we talk about the events the Bible says are signs of His coming. We share news reports about wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and countless other distresses and fateful events.

Often people will say, “The world has always had war and famine and trouble-all these things. Are today’s events any different? Why do they have special significance now?”

The answer is found in two key verses. Jesus said, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end (end of the age) come (Matthew 24:14). Only recently, in our generation, could it be said that the gospel has been preached in all the world, witnessing to all nations.

Secondly, the Bible doesn’t say, “when you see wars, look up” or “when you see famine and pestilence, the time is near.” Look carefully at what Jesus said in Matthew 24:33-when ye shall see ALL these things, know that it is near, even at the doors (emphasis mine). All these things, all at once-simultaneously! That’s the key Jesus said to watch for, and I’m telling you, that day has come!

There are many places in the Word that talk about things that will come to pass-there’s a whole list of them, but I’ve chosen to write about just four-perhaps the top four-that have to come together before the coming of the Lord.

So today we must do all that we can to point the lost to the Answer-not a theory, a contract, a plan-but to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. That’s what Jack and I do every week on our worldwide telecast.

Hunger and pestilence (Revelation 6:8)

The second thing that shocks me is how there can be famine, privation, and deathly need and starvation in a world where there is such abundance. Why am I surprised? Often there can be unimaginable opulence and wealth at one end of the street, and hunger, want, and terrible suffering at the other end of the same street.

The hunger, disease, and pestilence around the world hurt my heart so much. Today we have many, many billionaires all over the world-people with so much wealth that they literally cannot even count it all. There are billionaires not only in prosperous, wealthy countries, but also in poor, underdeveloped nations. Outside the gates of these billionaire’s estates-in the very shadow of their elegant palaces of privilege-starving people die in the darkness.

In nations ravaged by famine, with millions of starving children, cruel dictators hoard the country’s meager resources and even confiscate the humanitarian aid sent by other nations for their own personal gain. No wonder the Word reminds us that the heart (of man) is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).

Most of us are not billionaires. Perhaps we do not even have much to spare beyond our basic needs. But in the words of American writer Edward Everett Hale-

I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do something I can do.

There is always something we can do to help share the gospel with those who do not know the Lord. Even when the physical needs of nations and people are beyond our means to change, we can point them to Jesus and His words of eternal life. In many impoverished regions where television is not available to very many, we are broadcasting the message of Christ’s soon return on radio, hoping that somehow we can get through to some of the people.

Without natural affection (2 Timothy 3:3)

Recently on our telecast, I read a horrifying headline and story about a mother who cut off the hands of her children because they were disobedient! Can you believe it? That’s not the affection of a mother’s heart. How could a parent’s mind get so twisted as to mistake brutal, bloody amputation and dismemberment as loving discipline? Truly we are living in “perilous times.”

Do you believe we are living in a day when people are without natural affection? We see and hear about it all the time. There are many husbands who beat and abuse their wives, even wives who also are abusive. There have also been numerous cases of children who have murdered their parents, or beat or injured a younger brother or sister.

Why am I surprised? We live in an age when sexual predators stalk children on the playgrounds of schools. Even teachers and religious leaders have been involved in horrible sexual abuse of young boys and girls. I just reported a story on our telecast recently about a man who had the names of 36,000 young boys on his computer. Investigators suspected that he had probably actually had sex with hundreds of them.

That’s not a natural heart! That is a person without natural affection. You do not prey on children-I don’t care who you are or what “logic” you use to rationalize it. God intended for us to love our neighbor as ourselves-to have a love for everyone, no matter who they are. Betraying the trust and dependence of children and family is unnatural!

The Bible warns us about a whole laundry list of terrible behavioral practices that become common in the world before the end of the age comes. The Apostle Paul wrote, For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (2 Timothy 3:2-5).

Do you recognize any of these things in our society today? Are they happening around where you live? Then pay attention. This is a biblical, prophetic sign of the promised days just prior to Christ’s coming!

Worldwide terrorism (Matthew 24:37; Genesis 6:11, Luke 21:9)

Worldwide terrorism! Why am I surprised? Jesus said, But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:37).

What was it like in Noah’s day? The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11). Does that description fit the world you know? I think so.

Finally, Jesus said, But when ye shall hear of wars and (violent) commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass…nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom… (Luke 21:9, 10).

Terrorism is certainly on the upswing right now. But we must not be surprised when it strikes. Jesus said these things must come to pass-terrorism will continue at some level right up until the coming of the Lord!

This is why I am so excited, positive, and thankful about the incredible tool the Lord has given to us with our weekly telecast, Jack Van Impe Presents. We don’t come on each week with global news and gloom and doom. We say, “Yes, we do see terrorism, just as Jesus foretold. But let not your heart be troubled-these things must come to pass. They precede the coming of the Lord.” We’re trying to prepare people with a positive outlook, knowing that trials teach us trust in our Heavenly Father!

Yes, there have been some dark days. There may well be dark times again. But don’t be afraid of “the power of darkness.” I believe darkness doesn’t really have any power of its own-it’s only the absence of light! If you carry light with you, it always dispels darkness! Darkness has no power if you hold up the light of the world-Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and our Lord. He said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

Today let us allow God to comfort our souls and give us hope for tomorrow. Be ready and watching for His return. With all my heart, I believe He is coming very soon!

Don’t be surprised!

A CLASSIC MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE

Revelation 21: 15 – 27

Verse 15: And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

Verse 16: And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

Verse 17: And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

The angel measures the city with a golden reed or measuring rod. Since the streets are composed of gold and the city is pure gold as well (verse 18), a gold yardstick is appropriate. (It’s a good thing that thieves are excluded-1 Corinthians 6: 10-otherwise the Holy City’s freeways would disappear!)

Verse 16 informs us that the New Jerusalem is tetragonal, or foursquare in shape. The city is a perfect cube because its width, length, and height are equal. In fact, the angel discovers its dimensions to be 12,000 furlongs wide, long, and high. Most scholars believe this to be a distance of 1,500 miles. Dr. A. C. Gaebelein says, “Twelve thousand furlongs constitutes fifteen hundred miles.” Seiss states: “The golden city is 1,500 miles square; for 12,000 stadia make 1,500 miles.”

Placed over the United States of America, the heavenly city would extend from the northernmost point of Maine to the southernmost point of Florida and from the eastern seaboard to Colorado. In fact, the major cities of the world are mere villages in comparison with the New Jerusalem.

Because it also extends 1,500 miles upward into space, it could literally contain every person who has ever been born, plus additional billions as well.

The wall extends around the city and is approximately 216 feet in height, for a cubit is the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger (approximately eighteen inches).

Now let’s look into the magnificent beauty of God’s Holy City.

Verse 18: And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

Verse 19: And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

Verse 20: The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

Verse 21: And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

Wow! Notice first that the wall of jasper represents Christ, in His radiant glory, surrounding His saints. Next the pure gold city typifies the righteousness of God’s holy nature, and then the precious colorful stones-startlingly brilliant-picture the Lord’s attributes as well as various aspects of His redemptive work.

Imagine the scene when the light of the city-the Lord Jesus Christ (verse 23)-shines through the brilliancy of these stones! When John’s vision becomes a reality-then and only then-we will begin to understand the term the glory of God!

The beautiful city also pictures the saints of all ages joined together in love, for the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are coupled with the names of the apostles. This means that all of God’s people from all dispensations have finally been joined together in one truly ecumenical brotherhood. No longer will we be Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Nazarenes, or Presbyterians. Instead, we will be united brethren! What a glorious day when we lay aside eternally the tags that so often divide us.

Verse 22: And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

On earth, God always had a dwelling place-a temple or tabernacle-where men could come to worship and commune with Him. Such a place is no longer needed, for the tabernacle of God is now with men. He has chosen to dwell with them (chapter 21, verse 3).

Verse 23: And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof

While on earth, Jesus said, I am the light of the world (John 8:12). Now, in the eternal city, Christ, in all His radiant splendor and glory, shines forth so magnificently that darkness becomes an impossibility. No wonder there shall be no night there!

Verse 24: And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Verse 25: And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

Verse 26: And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

These verses undoubtedly picture the multitudes who came through the Millennium as born-again, regenerated believers. They did not follow Satan in the final rebellion upon his release from the bottomless pit. Therefore, they entered the eternal state in bodies of flesh. Their rulers, kings, and presidents-also born again and still living in earthly bodies-now bring their glory and honour into the New Jerusalem as well. They come to praise Him who is all in all. As they arrive, there is no fear of assassination, recrimination, terrorism, or robbery. Such events are no longer possible. God is present. Satan is destroyed. Temptation is forever past. Thus, the gates of the city are never locked. Security is needless in the land of eternal day where there is no night. At this point, however, the warning flag is again lifted.

Verse 27: And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

CHANGED LIVES-one at a time

Rexella,

I married my wife in our senior year of high school. We both graduated. We both worked hard at raising our two beautiful daughters and bettering our lives. We are now 66 years old and still loving each other. Your message was one that made me reflect on our marriage. My wife and I now tell our four Wonderful grandchildren what God has helped us do in our life and marriage. I feel that God has blessed me in my life. Thank you for your message.

R.

Just wanted to tell you what a blessing you’ve been for my wife and I over the years! I have used your books on Daniel and Revelation time and time again to teach small groups and Sunday school. We currently have 19 in our “small” group that meets Monday nights and are studying the book of Revelation verse by verse using Revelation Revealed as our study help. Many of our group have purchased your book! I’ve been following you for over 30 years now (I’m 58) and just want to thank you for your service to the Lord. I have also been fascinated by eschatology since I was 10 years old attending Church Of The Open Door in downtown LA (Dr. J Vernon McGee was our first pastor)….still watch your program and listen to “Through the Bible Radio”. Looking forward to meeting you when we get to Heaven!

Thank you for being a blessing to so many!

Adam H.

HIGHLIGHTED MINISTRY OFFERS

The Jack Van Impe Prophecy Bible

• With bonus The Complete Guide to Every Prophecy Verse in the Bible A listing of all the prophetic verses in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation
• Now includes Daniel Final End Times Mysteries Unsealed A full commentary on the book of Daniel by Dr. Jack Van Impe
• All the prophecy verses in the Bible shaded and identified.
• The majestic King James Version translation text in large print, with words of Christ in red.
• A ribbon bookmarker.
• A special presentation page – perfect for gift-giving
• An inspiring introductory message from Dr. Jack Van Impe.
• A Scripture memorization plan – designed by Dr. Van Impe to enable you to learn the Word of God more effectively than ever before.
• Dr. Van Impe’s own A to Z Prophecy Index – giving you easy, instant access to the Bible’s answers on the questions that concern you most.
• Dr. Van Impe’s fascinating verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Revelation.

Eternity: Who? Where? When? Why?

Do you know where you will be eternally?

It’s the most important question you will ever answer!

Bible prophecy experts Drs. Jack and Rexella Van Impe use their vast knowledge of the Scriptures to show you:

• Eternity is real – and every human will spend it in either heaven or hell.
• Jesus Himself talked about hell – this video shows you what He said and what it means for you, your family, and all humanity.
• Preachers who don’t talk about hell are dishonoring God – because Jesus Himself was the first hell-fire preacher.
• The concept of the Trinity is integral to your belief in God – and only faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can save.
• The Rapture is foretold in the Scriptures – and you can see which prophetic signs have already taken place and prove the return of the Lord is at hand.
• And much more!

This teaching is perfect for any believer and great to share with non-Christians who want the truth about eternity, heaven, hell, and the return of Christ!