Get Ready For The Time of Trouble

...Lawlessness will abound, th love of many will grow cold (Matt 24:12).
There will be great tribulation, unprecendented in earth's history (24:21).
Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would survive (Matt 24:22).

Most of the Church is unprepared for what is coming. It sleeps. And despite this pronouncement, few will wake up before it is too late. Such is Jesus’ prediction in symbol in Matthew 25:5-6.

Sleep symbolises spiritual unawareness and deception. One major deception that grips millions of believers is The Rapture – that, suddenly, at an unexpected moment, believers in Jesus will be whisked away, taken from the earth rather like Elijah was taken up into heaven in supernatural uplift (2 Kings 2).

O that it were that simple!

The major TV evangelists all believe this trash. And they dupe the minds of millions of unsuspecting followers! For example, Dave Hunt and T McMahon of the Berean Call, which I quoted on pp 13 and 14, believe all this fiction. It appeals to many. It’s a nice easy ‘answer’ to this universal problem. The only problem with it is that it is unbiblical and false!

Just look at what Jesus said:

Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath... (Matt 24:19,20).

He was addressing believers. These warnings are written for followers of Jesus – Christians – not for unconverted folks who don’t care about His words.

And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, BUT FOR THE ELECT’S SAKE, those days will be shortened (Matt 24:22).

Rapturists like Dave Hunt claim that the Rapture will have removed the elect from earth. Their preconceptions contaminate their understanding of what Jesus is telling us. They firmly believe this tripe. It is deeply rooted now by prejudice and long-standing tradition. You won’t be able to convince them other- wise. But for those who still have open minds, Jesus warns that this time of trouble will affect ALL living, including true believers. He will individually lead each person, who trusts in Him, through that time:

Because you have kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth (Rev 3:10).

For those who have not kept His Word and have not patiently held to unpopular but true teachings:

Indeed, I will cast her [Jezebel] into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works (Rev 2:22,23).

Christians are clearly very much alive on earth at the time of this climactic tribulation! Also MANY will be converted through this awful time (see Rev 7:14). They are not taken away before it strikes.

Christians In The Tribulation

In Daniel’s prophecy of the end of this age, the tribulation to which Jesus referred is mentioned in 12:1, again with a promise of deliverance (spiritual first, physical only secondarily) to those who have their trust firmly placed in God. Then in verse 3, the Messenger of God, the Son of God, who was saying these things (Dan 10:16) declared:

Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever (Dan 12:3).

How could true believers turn many to righteousness if they have been whisked away to heaven already!? Furthermore it is during the tribulation that the Abomination of Desolation occurs (11:31):

Those who do wickedly against the covenant [those who are not true to God] he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits (11:32). And those of the people who understand shall instruct many... (11:33).

I hope you can see that true believers will be around during the Tribulation. Don’t believe the lies of Rapturists whose nice-sounding but specious ‘spin’ leads many to perdition through complacency.

Continuing from Daniel:

...yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. Now when they fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join them by intrigue [flattery – i.e. false Christians will be among them]. And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time (Dan 11:33-35).

That appointed time is the great tribulation. The end-time ‘hour’ of trial that is coming upon the whole world to test the purity of each person’s motivation – whether they want righteousness, or merely care about themselves. Those who are willing to die for the faith will be rewarded – “helped with a little help” – enabled to go through the ordeal:

They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Rev 12:11).

Christians are going to be very much IN the tribulation, which is why Jesus gave us the extensive warnings in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Would He say these words to us if He knew we would no longer be on earth in great tribulation? Of course not. He encourages you and me:

Now when these things begin to happen, look up [look to God for your deliverance], and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near (Luke 21:28).

Why This Deception?

Millions believe the myth of the secret Rapture. Some even – like David Hathaway – believe worse, that the tribulation is past, fulfilled by the Holocaust, and does not apply to Christians. But I can tell you from a proper understanding of God’s Word that it is an assault against the true Church and pure truth.

Satan hates the truth! And it is his avowed aim to obliterate it and those who carry it. Hence the specific allegory in Revelation 12 of him attacking the Woman, who is the personification of Wisdom (Prov 1:20-33) – God’s spiritual wisdom; His truth!

Revelation 6:11 encapsulates this persecution that has occurred throughout history:

...those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed (Rev 6:9-11).

This is the end-time martyrdom that is coming in the West, under the ‘auspices’ of the ‘holy’ Roman Empire in its final ‘resurrection’ in Europe. While it includes believers in other parts of the world, the main focus of Revelation’s prophecies is the area governed by the ‘ten toes’ of Daniel 2:40-44.

The great tribulation is when all the walls of ecclesiastical domination collapse (Matt 24:2). The Church is going to be dismantled and destroyed – except for the heretical Harlot church, the false church; state-approved religion (Rev 13:11-18).

So, how come so many preachers and Bible teachers have got it wrong?! Deception accompanies pride. That’s the plain and simple truth. They still have pride that needs eradicating. They are lifted up by their position, by the numbers they have reached, or by their ‘great knowledge’ or ‘spiritual superiority’.

To prepare for what is to come, you have to lay the right foundation. That sure foundation, as Jesus showed us by His life, is based on humility; service.

Are You Ready To Die For Jesus?

You know what Jesus said about seeking to save your life selfishly. You can’t. HE will save those who are willing to lay down their lives unselfishly.

I don’t have space in this short article to explain all that you need to do to get ready for His coming. There are a number of aspects that you need to look at. We have covered them in a range of literature.

Here are some titles for starters:

GET READY!
The Missing Dimension in Christian Living
Why Trials?
Why Do Christians Suffer?
Articles of Faith, Volume 3
DEMONS
Faith: Raising Our Level Of Expectation
God’s Church – Whose Authority?
The Bible Speaks, Vols 1-5
Help In Trials
A Message To The Charismatic Church.

I suggest to any who are open to God, take our literature list (separate leaflet or in the back pages of some of our Dream Diary supplements) and let God’s Spirit highlight publications that you need to read.

God will satisfy the hungry and thirsty. He will come to the pure in heart.

It’s time for each believer to exercise faith in God, not in man. We find in our dealings with most Christians that their loyalties are compromised. They are like Thyatira – not pure. They have physical aspirations instead of spiritual. Consequently they don’t have the faith of Jesus.

Jesus was willing to give up all in this life to do the will of God. He didn’t live for Himself, but for the One who had sent Him into the world, to die for it. You are called, likewise, to become like Him in all things, in attitude, in selflessness, in devotion, in faith.

He gives you that faith as you lay down your own life. But only those who are humble, like little children, willing to sit and learn at His feet, will move on. Most are not child-like enough to absorb new (to them) teachings from God’s Word.

There is fierce opposition from most church leaders against the pure truth we promote because this is part of the final restoration in this age. It exposes errors and wrong motives in such people.

Great tribulation is coming upon the Church – amongst other reasons – because of disobedience:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18).

Don’t suppress truth! Live by it, unreservedly! Then God will speak to you and guide you, leading you through the time of horrors.

Malcolm B Heap