FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

WHO ARE YOU?

I grew up with a healthy appreciation of the arts. All through my school years, I learned to recognize the genius of the great masters of painting, sculpture, architectural design and, of course, music. As a singer at school and in church, I was in awe of the classical composers who could hear, create, and capture such glorious melodies and rich harmonies, making them come alive again and again in different places and times.

So when Jack and I were married and made our first trip to Belgium to meet all his relatives, it was an unbelievable joy to me. In addition to the welcoming and wonderful fellowship with the extended Van Impe family, the history and culture of old Europe was everywhere-the food, the traditions, the sights, sounds, and smells-the very atmosphere itself. Except for being seasick on the voyage over (we decided to fly on future trips), I loved every moment of our adventure.

When we strolled through the streets of Brussels and suddenly came upon the Grote Markt/Grand-Place, the amazing marketplace and celebration center of the capital city, my mouth flew open in amazement. There were flowers everywhere surrounding little booths and open-air shops that offered fresh produce, baked goods, candies, handicrafts of all kinds, and wandering troupes of street entertainers. There was color, sound, and life as far as the eye could see in every direction! And surrounding it all, framing the pulsing heart of the inner city, were the great, historic seventeenth century buildings with elaborate facades of brick and stone and glass, filled with shops, offices, and apartment flats. Amazing!

To this day, Brussels’ Grand-Place is one of my favorite spots in all the world, an ever-changing spectacle of vitality and excitement. But on my first trip to Europe as a young bride, the experience was almost overwhelming.

To further highlight my first visit to Europe, Jack and I got a car and drove from Brussels to Paris! I don’t have the words to describe my excitement at seeing the countryside, villages, and towns-most of them with their own marketplaces bustling with life-and soaking up the sounds of old languages accented with laughter and shouts. The people were real, live characters from folk literature, with costumes that would have seemed too elaborate even for my active imagination.

And then we were in Paris, standing outside perhaps the most famous art museum in the world, the Louvre! Could this really be happening to me? I’d always loved great art, and enjoyed visiting fine museums during family outings and school field trips. But the Louvre? As we walked through galleries filled with some of the most famous works of art in the world, I was literally overwhelmed. My mind could barely take in the reality of seeing the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Aphrodite, and works by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Renoir, Mondrian, Monet, Cézanne, El Greco, and scores of other great masters from the past. Too soon my brief visit was ended-I could have spent days there.

Fortunately, Jack and I got to go back to Europe to spend time with his relatives about every other year, and on each trip we tried to take in some notable or worthwhile place. I learned so much each time we went for a visit.

Life is all around you-don’t miss it!

Here at home, my husband and I also try to keep up with significant news developments and often visit historically important places. Connected with our ministry on our trips abroad-we’ve been in about fifty countries-we’ve explored noteworthy local sites and sought to better understand the people and cultures. Of course, Jack is always aware and sensitive to people, places, and events around the world with prophetic significance.

So many times as we’ve visited some historic site or an area with prophetic importance, suddenly the realization would hit me that I was seeing something important…that I was literally part of something significant or noteworthy. I felt a little nudge that I should pay special attention to what was around me at that moment-as if the Holy Spirit was whispering, “He that hath an ear, let him hear…” (see Revelation 2-3).

That happened to me again just this week! While Jack was getting his hair cut, I wandered through a little antique shop nearby and soon found myself browsing a small art exhibit. I’d never heard of the artist before, but he was extremely talented-I’d put him in the category of a great master-painter. I was drawn to a powerful work he had done that captured the images of two young girls. As I looked at them, it seemed they took on a life of their own as they laughed together and looked out on the vista before them.

The girls seemed so much more real than just a painting. They seemed so relaxed, so comfortable, so real. I felt that I should know them…that I’d like to know them. As I stood there for several long moments, I actually said aloud, “Who are you?”

It was the kind of deeply introspective moment a person may have in his life on occasion when he looks into a mirror and wonders, “Does anybody know who I am? Do I even know? Does God know that I’m here?”

As I looked into the skillfully created faces of those two youngsters in the painting, I whispered again, “Who are you?” And I thought in response, “I know Someone who knows you better than this artist, and that is the Lord. No matter where you are today, He knows you!”

I didn’t see anybody else in the quietness of that little gallery, but in that instant I became keenly aware that the “Someone” I’d just thought about had seen me…and recognized me…and knew me!

God knows us even before we are born

God spoke to Jeremiah and said, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee (Jeremiah 1:5). What a phenomenal statement. When did Jeremiah become a “viable,” individual person? At conception? At some point in the prenatal process? At birth? According to the Lord God, He knew Jeremiah long before.

When Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me” (Mark 10:14), the Greek word used for “children”-brephos-can refer to born and unborn, I’m told. This would mean that Jesus was not just saying, “let these children come unto me, but all children-those who have been born…and those who are not yet born.”

I have a little sister in heaven who was miscarried. I have a brother in heaven who was born but lived only three hours. I will see them both in heaven someday! Every child who was ever conceived is known of God. He declared that before a child is formed in the belly or is born, He knew that baby! Before I was completely developed in my mother’s womb, God knew that I would be born and called Rexella Shelton. He knew who I was before I was!

I know He knows our names because in Revelation 3:5 He declares that He will not blot our name out of the book of life. Every name is in the book-it can only be blotted out if a person rejects the Lord. That’s why every child goes to heaven, no matter what. Jesus himself said that our names are written in heaven (see Luke 10:20).

What a great promise! So many children’s lives have been snuffed out in wars, epidemics, and famines. Millions more have been destroyed by abortion. But, thank God, how wonderful to know that every child is safe with Him…and He knows them all by name! Every single one of these precious lives is now with the Lord. Oh, that blesses me!

We will continue this study in the next newsletter.

A CLASSIC MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE

Revelation 9:20-21

Verse 20: And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

Verse 21: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

We have now witnessed the release of thirteen judgments-seven seals and six trumpets. One would think that after experiencing such devastation, mankind would begin considering eternity. Not so! Those who are still alive continue to rebel. Wicked sinners do not give in or give up easily. In fact, God’s Word tells us that men won’t repent even after they have been in the regions of the doomed and the damned for centuries. Even then they continue gnashing their teeth in an expression of their hatred toward God. Proof? The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:41, 42).

Verses 20 and 21 present five major sins which permeate the Tribulation scene-and for which men would rather die than switch: (1) occultism, (2) murder, (3) drug abuse, (4) fornication (sexual orgies), and (5) stealing. Let’s investigate them further.

Occultism

The Tribulation will be a time of pronounced devil worship. Anton LaVey began the church of Satan movement in San Francisco. Estimates reveal that tens of thousands in California alone are connected to this or some other type of occult organization. Stores where satanic objects may be purchased are presently springing up everywhere nationally and internationally. God hates this sin!

Listen to the Almighty: Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 19:31). And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people (Leviticus 20:6). Anything that smacks of demonic-related practices has the anathema of God upon it. Look at the listing found in Deuteronomy 18:10-12: There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times [astrology], or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.

In addition to worshipping devils, earth dwellers of the Tribulation hour also use idols made of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood. God hates idolatry! This practice breaks His holy law-the second commandment-given to Moses in Exodus 20:4,5 which declares, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.

There are those today who, knowingly or unknowingly, break God’s commandment by worshipping lifeless, man-made idols. Their worship, however, is meaningless to God. The psalmist says in Psalm 115:4-8, Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them [helpless and hopeless]; so is every one that trusteth in them. God condemns idolatry-past, present, and future!

During the Tribulation hour, the world-steeped in occultism and idolatry-progresses to the worship of the image of the beast, or Antichrist, who proclaims himself as God (see 2 Thessalonians 2:4).

This image, made in his likeness (see Revelation 13:15), is undoubtedly the abomination of desolation spoken of in Matthew 24:15, which is placed in the Temple in Jerusalem and which brings great heartache to the Jews of that day. One can see that the world’s present surge of occultism is paving the way for the coming of the greatest religious imposter in history.

Murder

During this same time, murder becomes a sport and judgment does not change the situation. The wicked refuse to turn from their brutalistic manner of living. They find pleasure in killing people, perhaps because terrorism is rampant. Jesus said, But as the days of Noe were, so shall the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:37). Noah’s day was characterized by violence: The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11). Our twenty-first century is certainly leading us to this terrifying hour.

Drugs, fornication, and stealing

The final three sins prevalent during the end time are interrelated and have to do with sorceries-drug abuse, fornication (the practice of every conceivable sex sin), and theft. These sins indicate that bodies are being sold (through prostitution) and burglaries are being committed in order to support the drug kick. Present news headlines indicate that this day is already dawning! Surely our time as the Church upon earth is about to end and we must prepare to meet [our] God (Amos 4:12). In concluding this chapter, let’s spend some time on the matter of drugs.

There are a number of words used in the Bible to describe the subject of sorcery. Altogether there are at least twenty-seven references to sorcery, sorceries, sorcerers, witches, witchcraft, and the art of bewitching. Of these, at least five in the New Testament are especially pertinent, for they have a direct bearing on the day in which we live-the present day of drugs and drug addiction.

In the books of the Old Testament and the Book of Acts the term sorcery always means “witchcraft” or “magic”-and one should note that the practice is continually and constantly condemned! Five occurrences of the word sorcery in the New Testament, however, have to do with drug addiction. In these instances, the original Greek word is pharmakeia-from which we get our English term pharmacy or drugstore. The literal meaning of the Greek is an “enchantment with drugs,” or to “get high on” or “get a kick out of’ drugs. Medications prescribed by doctors are not part of this condemnation. The literal rendering of verse 21, then, is that men repent not of their enchantment with drugs during the Tribulation hour. Each of the five references must be carefully considered in the light of its context. Collectively, they clearly reveal: (1) the present world condition as foretold in the prophetic scriptures; (2) the inevitable result of drug addiction; (3) the certain and definite judgment upon the drug pusher as well as (4) the drug victim; and finally (5) the appraisal of this terrible sin in the sight of God Almighty.

As previously stated, we can already see the dawning of the day of drugs in the spread of drug use throughout all levels of society. Such a widespread use of drugs cannot help but bring its own destruction. Even amid all the trips in mind expansion propaganda, not one user has ever been able to actually do more or be more efficient than he was before experimenting with drugs. This steady downward retrogression will be climaxed at the close of the Great Tribulation, when the full cup of its own judgment is measured.

The closing chapters of the Book of Revelation graphically portray the terrible consequences of mankind’s enchantment with drugs. What we are presently witnessing is only the beginning of the coming disintegration of society during the Tribulation period. Revelation 18:23 states: For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. The Greek word for sorceries, as already mentioned, is pharmakeia. Thus, “by their enchantment with drugs, or getting high on drugs, were all nations deceived.” This is the result of mankind’s first mass usage of drugs.

Now there is a change in the next occurrence of the word translated sorcerers. This change reveals a class of people who are doomed and is found in chapter 21, verse 8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. The Greek word for sorcerers in this text is pharmakeus.

Whereas the word pharmakeia meant “enchantment with drugs,” pharmakeus means “the enchanter with drugs”-the pusher or the seller of drugs. This text plainly declares that eight distinct groups of people will never get into heaven but will rather be assigned to the lake of fire (a description of a literal hell). One of these groups is composed of those who are enchanters, or pushers of drugs. What a solemn warning against having anything to do with the soul-damning drug traffic of the present hour!

But wait! There is another reference to sorcerers in this book of the Bible-chapter 22, verse 15: For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Here again the word is pharmakeus.

Although the word is the same as the one found in chapter 21, verse 8, it has a deeper meaning in this context. By extension, it includes both the drug pusher and user! Take notice-these individuals are kept out of heaven. (Heaven would not be heaven very long if they were admitted.) There is only one place to which they can go and that is the place of eternal separation from the presence of God- the place prepared for Satan and his angels (see Matthew 25:41).

The Bible is explicit in stating that there is no heaven for those who refuse to repent of their sins. In hell, they will keep on sinning forever. They never repent or get saved there. Notice also that of the six groups named in chapter 22, verse 15, sorcerers (drug pushers and users) occupy second place-immediately following the term which describes outlaws as wild dogs. Oh, God hates this sin!

An additional word, witchcraft, with the same meaning is found in Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The word witchcraft in our English Bible is again pharmakeia in the Greek. We also see that this sin is number six in this listing of seventeen kinds of sinners who shall not-shall not-inherit the kingdom of God. The drug user and the drug pusher are both excluded from heaven!

Is there no hope or escape from the clutches of this binding habit? Praise God, there is a source of liberation-it is the Lord Jesus Christ: For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). Beloved, it is by the way of the cross of Calvary that Jesus has broken Satan’s grip. Now, when any-any-guilty sinner calls upon Him for salvation, Jesus Christ immediately frees that person from the shackles of sin and death which bind him. Try Him. There is no limit to the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

CHANGED LIVES-one at a time

Dearest Rexella:

I just want you to know because of you and your husband I became a born again Christian and became drawn back to Christ. I love you both so much and I want to thank you for your gift to me. I miss seeing you both on TV every Sunday. You are both loved and appreciated more than you know. Forever in my heart. Thank you.

Dana D.

HIGHLIGHTED MINISTRY OFFERS

Seasons of Faith

What season of life are you in?

This deeply personal book of reflections and insights from Dr Rexella Van Impe offers words of wisdom plumbed from the depths of God’s Word, practical concepts you can apply to any moment in your spiritual journey

Rexella’s perspective is always one of compassion She has “walked the walk” Now, in a single, remarkable volume, she shares with you the key truths that guide her journey with the Lord

Let the Holy Spirit guide you as you enter into this extraordinary excursion with Rexella, through the seasons of faith

Animals In Heaven

Nothing is more significant about heaven than the fact that those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior will spend an eternity in His presence!

And yet, questions about our eternal home are plentiful. One question specifically was repeatedly posed to Dr. Jack and Rexella Van Impe throughout their decades of ministry:

Will my precious pet be in heaven?

They both spent many hours researching this very topic, and those answers are here in this book! So be encouraged, God’s Word has good news!