"The Lord knows the days of the upright,
and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied."
Psalm 37:18-19
Believers know that the great Tribulation is looming. Most understand that the New World Order is currently being set up for the kingdom of the coming Antichrist. Many believers are very aware of what is going on, and of how the prophecies of the Bible concerning "the last days" are unfolding right before their eyes.
Believers are also very aware that great judgment is looming even now and that things are going to get bad. Very bad. There are teachers who are teaching that believers should stock up on food, supplies, and guns, and make all kinds of preparations for what's coming. Teachers are preparing their people to weather the Great Tribulation. Is that wise?
First of all, Scripture makes it very clear that believers will be removed before the Tribulation even begins:
THE RESTRAINER
The church, the Body of Christ, is what is holding back, or restraining, evil. Once believers are gone, evil will have free reign over all the earth. The Lord takes believers BEFORE the Antichrist is revealed.
"...he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
AND THEN the lawless one will be revealed..."
2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8
Difficult and perilous times are ahead even before the Tribulation.
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.”
2nd Timothy 3:1
The word “perilous” is the Greek word chalepos, which is also translated “fierce.” And that's what we're looking at today.
So what should be the response of the believer? Should he stock up on food, guns, and other things? Well ...we probably should be stocked up at any time, for we never know what disaster may come upon any part of the world, it's just a general common-sense kind of thing. But to go into the frenzy that "preppers" go into thinking they can weather the Tribulation ...now come on friends, come back to the Word of God. We are NOT going into the Tribulation and even if we were, there is no amount of preparation that one could amass in order to preserve himself through that awful time. The Tribulation is going to be the time of the most terrible, cataclysmic wrath of Almighty God poured out upon the world, and Jesus said that it will be so terrible that if that time hadn't been shortened no flesh, human or animal, would survive. There is no preparation possible against this.
"For then there will be great tribulation,
such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time,
no, nor ever shall be."
Matthew 24:21
What I would say to those who teach that we will experience part of the Tribulation at least: have you read what takes place at the very beginning of the Tribulation? Have you read about the Seals, the four horsemen of the apocalypse? How on earth could anyone think believers will soar through that time and survive it? It's not that it gets progressively worse - it's the wrath of God from the very beginning. If you think you can weather it, I suggest you read those parts about the beginning again. The judgments during the Tribulation are divided into three parts, the Seals, the Trumpets, The Vials. For example, the 6th (of 7) Seal:
.."there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”Revelation 6:12-14 Indeed, the elite of the world will try to escape from the horror: vs 15-17 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?'" Friends, the Seals are the BEGINNING of the Tribulation. Then come the Trumpets, and then the Vials.
There's no way for believers to prepare for the Tribulation. God himself has provided the escape from these things. Jesus Christ will take his bride, the born-again believers, the church, out of the earth before these terrible judgments begin.
Jesus Christ told believers that we are to pray that we might be able TO ESCAPE. The Rapture is the only means by which we can escape.
“Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy TO ESCAPE all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:36
Most importantly, the believer must prepare his heart so that his attitude is always utter trust in the Lord, knowing God will be present to the believer at all times. This trust doesn't come automatically when one is saved, this is a faith, a trust that is developed through deliberate preparation of the heart and long-time walking with the Lord. Without THIS kind of preparation, a believer can fall and many have.
Most believers have already come through times of hardship and calamity in their lives, and have learned that it is in those times that the Lord seems closest. There is an intimacy with him that can only be experienced in times like that. Trust him, friends. No matter what happens, you are safe in him, and not only safe, but chosen to bring to others the encouragement that you have gleaned from having gone through hardship or trauma and found him to be utterly faithful!
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“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." Deuteronomy 6:5-6 God desires that you so love him and his Word, that you speak of his Word all the time, when you're in your house, or out walking, anytime and everywhere - speak the Word of God. vs 7: "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Where are you to bind them? vs 8: "You shall bind them as a sign ON YOUR HAND, and they shall be as frontlets BETWEEN YOUR EYES." It's interesting to make the correlation to what the Antichrist will do when he rises to power. This Anti Christ is the false christ. One of the requirements that he will legislate will be that everyone must take his mark and put it upon either their forehead or on their hand. How obvious is that! He makes it such a binding law - that anyone refusing to do this will not be able to buy or sell. Isn't it interesting that the one sign of allegiance to the Antrichrist is that they take his mark upon their HAND or FOREHEAD, as a direct perversion of God's Word, an enforced counterfeit, and assault upon the Word of God. The penalty God has established for doing so, is that no one with Antichrist's mark upon them will be ABLE to be saved. Why is that, you might wonder? Why is there no mercy in this? God has always offered mercy to anyone who repents and places their trust in him. Yet those with Antichrist's mark will have no mercy? Why not? Read on... The Word of God says of the days preceding the flood of Noah: "There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them." Genesis 6:4 These fallen angels descended upon Mount Hermon in Israel. They took human women and produced with them offspring, and these offspring were the "giants" referred to so many times in the Word of God. These offspring were part human and part angelic, in other words their DNA was corrupted. These giants are called "nephilim," or "fallen ones." They were disqualified from salvation. In fact, this perversion was the reason for the flood of Noah - because the DNA of the whole population had become corrupted. What is going on today is that men - under the influence of Satan, are messing again with the genetic code. Everything from plants to animals are undergoing DNA modification. Some foods have on them "GMO," or GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM" - and on some, "from bioengineered products," which they present as a good thing - because they do not know the Word of God. When Antichrist rises, the mark he will demand to be on everyone's forehead or hand will be something that will actually corrupt the genetic makeup, the DNA. And that's WHY they will not be able to be saved, because the mark of the Antichrist will change their genetic makeup. As in the days of Noah. God is the God of mercy. The only time in either the Old Testament or the New Testament when mercy is not extended, is when the genetic makeup of a person has been re-designed, rendering him no longer "made in the image of God." That is why Joshua was commanded to take the cities of the "giants" and not spare anyone young or old - because those cities were the cities of the giants, those whose DNA had been corrupted. This is happening again - Satan's day is coming and his intent is to corrupt humanity once again, so that they will not be ABLE to be saved. “If anyone worships the Beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the Beast and his image, AND WHOEVER RECEIVES THE MARK OF HIS NAME.” Revelation 14:9-11 The Antichrist goes by many names in the Bible, and one of them is "the Beast." Jesus is the Lamb of God, so his counterfeit is "the Beast." vs 18: "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the Beast, for it is the number of a man: his number is 666." Believers know that the Rapture is coming soon and that those left behind will come under a strong delusion, a strong deception, ( 2nd Thessalonians 2:11-12). If you are one of those left behind, remember this message. Do not under any circumstances allow something to be embedded on you or into you. There is going to be a great revival after the Rapture. Millions will realize they've been left behind and will ask God for forgiveness, and he will grant it to anyone surrendering their lives to him, anyone who has NOT taken the mark of the Beast. During the reign of the Antichrist, the penalty for refusing the mark will be death. However, if you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ during that time and have not taken the mark, you may be martyred, but you will be saved. For all eternity.
"Because of transgression,
an army was given over to the horn (the Antichrist)
to oppose the daily sacrifices;
AND HE CAST TRUTH DOWN TO THE GROUND."
Daniel 8:12
Some of you may be here when the Antichrist arises on the scene. It will be hard to recognize him as the Antichrist leading the world to hell, because he will be a man of charisma and the people will love him. You will need to know the Word of God, the Bible, to discern who this man is, because he will be the master-deceiver.
Antichrist will be the counterfeit of Jesus Christ. For every characteristic of Christ, he will be the opposite. Jesus is "the way, the TRUTH, and the life," and Antichrist will be a liar, albeit a clever one. He will cast truth down to the ground. All that is evil he will foster, and all that is good he will squelch ...BUT in such a way that his followers will not realize this is the man of hell, and they will not recognize him as evil - they will think he's awesome. I used to wonder how on earth people could be so deceived - until I watched Obama's presidential campaign a few years ago and saw multitudes making him into some kind of messiah, many even calling him that. And now we're seeing the great deception, as multitudes are falling for the New World Order agenda being forced on the people, demanding that they put something into their body which in many cases has been lethal. It's nothing less than insanity.
"There is a way that SEEMS RIGHT to a man,
But its end is the way of death."
Proverbs 14:12
Even now the spirit of Antichrist is in the world, and by this you may recognize those under its influence: they call evil good and good evil. They will have no regard for truth but rather foster the adage, "whatever feels good, do it."
One title of the Antichrist is “the man of LAWLESSNESS” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3.) They want nothing to do with the restrictions of the God of the Bible.
"The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed,
saying, 'Let us break their bonds in pieces
and cast away their cords from us.'”
Psalms 2:2-3
They want to be free from all restraint and free to “do it my way.” Soon, all restraint will be permitted them, when the restrainer is removed.
The Antichrist will carry out the last days agenda of Satan himself. Jesus said of Satan:
"When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources,
for he is a liar and the father of it."
John 8:44
“Through his cunning he shall cause DECEIT to prosper under his rule;"
Daniel 8:25
When the followers of Jesus Christ asked him what the signs would be of his coming, the very first thing he said was to be very careful that you not be DECEIVED.
"...the disciples came to him privately, saying,
'Tell us, when will these things be?
And what will be the sign of your coming,
and of the end of the age?'
And Jesus answered and said to them:
'TAKE HEED THAT NO ONE DECEIVES YOU.'"
Matthew 24:3-4
People who are deceived do not know they are deceived, so how can one avoid deception? Only by knowing the Word of God. Those who call evil good and good evil DO NOT KNOW they are deceived, as they march on toward hell. And because they do not know the Word of God and have disdain for his Word, God sets them under a great delusion.
“The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) is according to the
working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
BECAUSE they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this reason God will send them STRONG DELUSION,
that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned
who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12
Pray with me:
Father, deception is a scary thing because when one is deceived he does not know he's deceived. I ask of you Lord, wherever I am deceived please show me the truth. I put down my pride, the pride that tells me I'm right, the pride that does not want to know the truth if it's going to cause me conflict, the pride that wants me to stay as I am. I ask you to be gentle with me, but show me wherever I am deceived. Jesus, you are "the truth," and I want to know the truth no matter what it costs me. Help me in this Lord, this is a tough one, but it's so crucial, and I want to make the right choice no matter what. Eternity is at stake.
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The Rapture