When the rapture occurs may seem unimportant to you, but it may be a critical issue in terms of your readiness. As Marvin Rosenthal says in his book, The Prewrath Rapture, "It is impossible to effectively train an army for a major battle if the soldiers are told they will never have to participate". (Rosenthal, op.cit., p.282) We should be careful that teachings we have held as true really have a Scriptural basis. Recently, on December 30, 1997, the Bible Answer Man, Hank Hannegraf was talking about the rapture. He said he has memorized the Book of Revelation, Daniel and other relevant passages such as Matthew 24 and been studying prophecy for several years. Although he has not come to firm conclusions as yet, he did say this about the "doctrine" of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. He said that he had studied all of the arguments for this position, and in his opinion, not one of these arguments holds up to any standard of Biblical interpretation.
Although I am not going to get into the detailed arguments but just to say that it may be one of the biggest hoaxes perpetrated on the modern church. It may also be part of the great "last days" deception. This is not a historic doctrine of the church but resulted from the vision of a 16 year old girl in Scotland in the 1830's and was popularized by John Darby, the famous Brethren leader. The timing of the rapture (at the beginning or end of the Tribulation) is not an essential of the faith. However, it is important in a more subtle way because it governs our attitude toward the last days.
I believe it has done more to lull the average Bible believing evangelical to sleep than any other doctrine when it comes to prophecy. It allows us to keep the good life and gives a false sense of security. We can continue with life as usual and there is no need to plan for some apocalyptic future because, we are comforted by the thought that we will rapture before things get too tough. This is wishful thinking and escapism. Only in the modern Western world, could we come up with this "have your cake and eat it to" doctrine. For those who don't believe us, I challenge you to read our book, The Antipas Papers or read the chapter on the Rapture on this site.
If we are convinced we leave before the Tribulation, any discussion of "last days" prophecy is an academic exercise to the evangelical Christian. And that is precisely why so many old line evangelicals don't worry that much about prophecy. "It's nice to know" information but will never affect us personally. It also allows us to conveniently apply verses that should apply to us to Israel or some future "saved" Christians that find the Lord after our departure. I also hear from pastors who tell me their church forbids them to preach on prophecy, or if they do, it falls on deaf ears.
If you knew for certain that the "the beginning of sorrows" and the Great Tribulation was going to begin soon and you and your family were going to go through it, what would you do? Would you do anything differently? Would you buy a bigger house? Get a bigger car? Save for that vacation.that retirement? Would you spend your time any differently? Do you have any idea what the Great Tribulation will be like? Read Matthew 24. Do you think everything will be hunky dory just because you are a child of God and He will take care of you? If so, read again.
Our "dispensational" teachings allows us to apply all of the verses in Revelation that refer to the saints to Jews or new Christians. Again, this is stretching the imagination and sound Biblical interpretation. Someone wrote me recently and declared that going through the Tribulation was not her "blessed hope" and she was not bound to wrath. Again, she is confused by Tribulation and the "wrath of God." Many who hold our position consider it to be a "pre-wrath rapture". I like that terminology because the Lord returns at the same time as the rapture - then the wrath of God is poured out on the earth. Again, please see the Antipas Papers or check out any number of "pre-wrath" rapture sites on the internet, including our own.
If you know Church history, you know the real church has been persecuted from the very beginning and still is in most of the world today. I received an e-mail recently about the International Day of Prayer to be held on Sunday, November 16, 1997 for the suffering church. And I quote:
"More Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries combined.(1) Pastors are being arrested and sometimes shot in China and Cuba. Believers are forbidden to buy goods or own property in Somalia. Christians who testify to their faith in Iran or Saudi Arabia may be put to death for blasphemy. Mobs have wiped out whole villages of Christians in Pakistan.(2) And it goes on." (Received on the Internet 11/2/97)
Suffering is normal; in fact we are told to expect Tribulation in this world. But, if the Great Tribulation - the greatest the church has ever experienced may be in our future, think about the personal implications. As a brother once said, we should live every day with an eternal perspective. Would we live any differently today in terms of what we do with our time, money and energy, if we knew that within the next few years, the worst tribulation Christians have ever seen was likely to begin? Should we do anything to prepare? Or should we just wait and let it happen? I think the Bible is clear that we are to prepare. Prophecy is meant to warn us and move us to action. If we fail to act on the clear prophetic warning of God, we do so at our own peril as events begin to overtake us.
As mentioned, people often misunderstand the Tribulation and confuse it with the wrath of God and the judgment of the world. The Bible says, "the church is not appointed to wrath" and we agree with that (I Thes. 5:9) but it also says that "judgment begins with the household of God". (I Peter 4:17) How can God judge the world if the church doesn't first pass through the fire? The church is never judged with the world, but "it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if {it begins} with us first, what {will be} the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (I Peter 4:17) There is a winnowing - a separation of the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats. Tribulation has always been a part of the Christian life. John 16:33 says that "in the world you will always have tribulation but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Some argue, the Church can't suffer the wrath of God - the Judgments. That is true. The Church will be gone before the final judgments of the world, but that is at the end of the Tribulation. Jesus, Paul and all of the other writers of the epistles promised us Tribulation in this world. That is the normal state. If the church in the United States isn't being persecuted as it is in most of the rest of the world today, maybe there is something seriously wrong with us. We aren't normal! (especially when the church mirrors the world in terms of nearly every sin and vice - alcoholism, divorce, abortion, etc.). The church no longer stands dogmatically for truth and righteousness.
Furthermore, God needs the Church because we are talking about the Great Trial! The whole earth is on trial and after that, the judgment! Meanwhile there are two witnesses to that trial (as demanded by God himself): the Church and Israel. (again for a complete explanation, please see our book, The New Antipas Papers and Revelation 11.) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands. It is essential that the two witnesses, God's two corporate expressions, be there for the trial.
Why is it called the Great Tribulation, the Tribulation of the Saints? We seem to have completely forgotten that the Bible talks about the apostate "Church" persecuting the real "Church" just as it has done down through history, but with even more force this time - that is why it is called the Great Tribulation. This is the time for winnowing - separating the wheat from the chaff - those who claim to be Christians versus those who are willing to lay down their lives for their Lord. In a recent survey, 60 percent of Americans said they were "born again" Christians, but are they really?
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. many will say "Lord, Lord" and He will say, "depart from me you wicked servant. I never knew you." (Matthew 7:21-23)
As I mentioned, we have a thorough analysis of the rapture in the Antipas Papers. In my over 40 years as a Christian, I have held all positions, but the past 20 years I have become more and more convinced that what I am about to share is the clear teaching of scripture. We believe in the pre-wrath rapture of the church which occurs at the end of Daniel's 70th week, but before the judgments are poured out on the earth. Any straight forward reading of the key scriptures related to the rapture show a clear course of events. The weight of scripture should all point in the same direction. Scripture reinforces scripture. Those who argue for a pre-tribulation rapture use circular reasoning, obscure verses and parables to prove their position.
I would like to compare two descriptions and timelines of Daniel's 70th week.
It is clear from these verses that there are these cosmic disturbances and the trumpets followed by the return of the Lord and the rapture. Rather than going into detail, I am going to give you the verses in the Old and New Testament that refer to the "Day of the Lord." (Joel 1:15, 2:1-2, 10-11,30-31, Amos 5:18-20, Isaiah 13:6-13, Zeph. 1:14-2:3). Each one of these verses refers to the same cosmic disturbances, the darkening of the sun, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a time of divine wrath, destruction, etc. It is clear that our Lord comes on the "Day of the Lord" and this is clearly at the end of the 70th week as noted in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6.
Now, we go to I Thessalonians 5:1-3
"Now as to the times and epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
See also II Peter 3:10-12 for another verse on the day of the Lord. We see another thing the verses above have in common - trumpets. Joel 2:1 begins to announce the day of the Lord with a trumpet. I Corinthians 15:51-52 places the rapture "at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed." So we see the cosmic disturbances, the trumpet and the Lord's return - all on the same day.
One of the major rapture passages is II Thessalonians 2,
"Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him" (verse 1)
Please note. This is one of the main "rapture" verses. There is no indications that there is a seven year period between these two events. In fact, the verses that follow deals with the question of when. It warns us not to listen to people who tell us the day of the Lord has come if these events have not occurred. We continue,
"that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (verses 2-4). The passage goes to say that the Lord will take care of the Antichrist by "the appearance of His coming." (verse 8)
What will not come? What is "it"? It should be clear from these passages that the rapture cannot occur until after this event which is referred to in other passages as the Abomination of Desolation. Just as an aside, most think this refers to offering sacrifices in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, and that may be but we believe it may refer to the ultimate desecration of the true temple - man. Please see Chapter 8 of the Antipas Papers for a complete explanation.
I would like to conclude this brief discussion of the rapture by a quote from Marvin Rosenthal's excellent work, The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church.
"Perhaps here is the ultimate error of pretribulation rapturism. It holds out the false hope of imminent rapture, instead of the true hope of expectant rapture. By expectant rapture it is meant that every generation since the first century would have been the generation that entered the seventieth week to experience the Rapture. Only the generation that actually enters the seventieth week will know the general time period. To that generation the Lord says, 'So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things (events of the seventieth week) know that it (His return) is near, even at the doors' (Matt 24:33) A careful appeal to verses said to teach imminency (no prophesied events must occur before the Rapture) will reveal that what they actually teach is expectancy." (Marvin Rosenthal, The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church, p. 282).
He points out that a pre-tribulation position negates the "God-given" warnings and admonitions to the church.
Tribulation is and always has been the ultimate test for the church. When the church looks no different than the society it is a part of, something is wrong. The divorce rate in the church exceeds the divorce rate in America. So how many of America's churches are really solid Bible believing churches. Let me ask you some questions:
Again Rosenthal says:
"Many who name the name of Christ want the church to provide entertainment, not worship. They want the church to provide a hedged-in, antiseptic, country-club atmosphere, not a Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in" philosophy (Luke 14:22). Apart from some notable exceptions, at the present hour the church is splintered, polarized, carnal, materialistic, humanistic and impotent. The world is burning, and the church is fiddling (ibid., p. 295)
To say that the Lord can't possibly allow the lukewarm, pleasure loving, self loving, self absorbed, carnal, materialistic, humanistic "Church" to suffer a little persecution is an affront to God and every Christian who has given his life for their Savior.
I am not some fanatic to say the world is going to end and the Lord will be back by such and such a date. But anyone, including Herod, could and did read the Old Testament, and knew the approximate time of the arrival of the Messiah. The Lord upbraided His generation for being able to forecast the weather but not understand the signs of the times. We are told we won't know the "day or the hour" the Lord returns, so we use that as an excuse for ignoring the obvious. The Lord upbraided the religious establishment for not reading the signs of the times.
Many Christians felt betrayed when the last days - the last seven years, didn't begin in 1988, exactly 40 years after the founding of the nation of Israel. But the Bible says Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles until the end.and when you see the fig tree bloom - Jerusalem restored - know that this generation would not pass away until all these things come to pass (this is in the context of Matthew 24, the Tribulation and the return of the Lord). Jerusalem was restored to Israel in 1967 and officially became the capital of Israel in 1981. so the 40 year countdown would begin until one of those dates. This is not my opinion but the observation of many evangelical leaders today. This would put the beginning of the tribulation at 2000 and the return of the Lord t 2007. This is but one theory. There are also many signs clearly foretold in prophecy.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the "signs of the times" not just in terms of wars, rumors of wars, famine, but the Arabs pressing in on all sides on the nation of Israel demanding land for peace. We do know that in the last days, certain events will take place before the Tribulation. We know a war will precede and set up the conditions for the Tribulation (where Russia and other surrounding countries come down on Israel - please see The New Antipas Papers for a full explanation). We also know that the Tribulation will begin when the Anti-Christ makes a pact with Israel to guarantee its safety. So we are not there yet, but we may be close and we know what to look for. If you believe you are going to Rapture and are still here after these two events have taken place, you had better quickly reevaluate your position.
It seems that Christian leaders would like to protect us from these prophecies lest we become frightened. That want us to be assured that the Rapture will take care of everything. They tell us not to worry. - just trust them. Is this really wise? No, these prophecies were written for us to read and understand. There is a special blessing for us in Revelation 1:3, for those who read, understand and heed. But if we ignore the clear warning of God, we do so at our own peril. If I am a last days Christian, there is nothing more important for me in the whole world than to understand and pay close attention to prophecy. If these are the last days, then these prophecies were meant for you and me. They weren't that relevant to a Christian living 200 years ago. But they are to us! In the last chapter of Daniel, he says that these prophecies concerning the last days were sealed until the end and then they will be revealed to us who really "need to know."
So many Christians, even some close to me, say "we don't need to worry. Everything will be okay. When the time comes, the Lord will take care of us." If that were so, then why did He bother to warn us? Why is so much of the Bible "last days" prophecy? Why bother to warn us there would be a great deception?. that even the elect will be deceived?. that there will be an apostate church?. that we won't be able to operate on the surface financially without taking the mark of the beast. and that we will suffer the worst persecution the church has ever seen? I don't understand why Christians don't see that this is very important information to them personally.
So we have three groups of evangelicals:
This is not a trivial point as some would say they are "Pan Rapture" - that everything will "pan" out in the end. This is a serious Biblical question with tremendous personal implications. It didn't matter to Paul, or Martin Luther or Dwight Moody. They are gone. But it may matter to you and me. We are ignoring at least one fourth of the Bible - prophecy that applies specifically to the last days Christians and Jews.
Most modern evangelical eschatologists (people who study the last days) such as Dwight Pentecost, John Woolvord, etc, agree that the two things must precede the Tribulation (the Gog Magog War and the "Treaty of Hell and Death" between the Anti-Christ and Israel), so the Rapture could not occur until then. But if those two events occur, and we are still here, it may be too late. The Church may be too far gone in its apostasy. Individual Christians may not be ready - either spiritually or practically. And anyone aware of current events knows, these two political events could happen at any moment.
All we are saying is that we must take prophecy seriously. Don't take my word for it. Read it yourself. Let the Lord speak to you. Study the Word. Then ask yourself, if I am an last days Christian, what should I do to get ready? How do I spend my last few years? What can I do to help the bride be ready? What are my priorities?
I have had to wrestle with these questions again and again but I can't stop the sound of the clock ticking down - in Israel.in the world. I'm no different than you. I can easily get caught up in the world and in the cares of life. I can ignore the ticking for a while but then the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) nudging of the Spirit reminds me. I gave my life to the Lord many years ago but there have been wasted years. I have not always walked in His perfect will - far from it. And I know that in eternity my greatest regret will be those years, those lost opportunities, those misplaced priorities. With time about to run out, what kind of people should we be?
We glibly think that we can never be deceived. God will be faithful. He will always take care of us. I am sorry, but that is wishful thinking. Real Christians are deceived all the time. And this deception will be the most clever, veiled, subtle and attractive deceptions of all time. When someone is deceived, they are tricked. A magician tricks your eye and you are deceived. Do we think the great deception of the last days will be obvious? The Bible says, "even the elect will be deceived." Satan won't use something evil to trap us. In fact, by definition, it has to appear so "good" that it tricks us. We see one thing and something else is happening behind the scenes (just like the magician). That is why we are foolish if we take this whole last days "talk" lightly. We had better keep our eyes open and be diligent with the Lord because it won't be that easy to detect. I can't tell you how many Christians blithely tell me how the Lord will show them when the time comes. He may, but if you aren't listening to Him today, what makes you think you will hear Him tomorrow?
You think you can't be deceived? Look at the millions of Christians in cults. The average Mormon or Jehovah's Witness came from a traditional Christian background. I know some personally and there is no doubt they are saved. Yet, they are deceived. Look at how many dear saints innocently attend Word-Faith churches, Vineyards and thousands of other errant movements. Again, read the books by Hunt, Hannegraf and others.
These churches appear to be solid evangelical churches. I have personally attended Word-Faith churches (not just once but for several years), latter rain churches (for several years) and Vineyards. I know that most of the people were born again Christians who really loved the Lord. In a "latter rain" church in Connecticut, it was very good 99 percent of the time, but there were very notable exceptions. One Sunday morning the pastor gave a message on Joel's Army (Joel, Chapter 2) which was a blatant manifest sons of God message and then proceeded to pass out a prophecy by John and Paula Sanford who have strong "New Age" leanings and promote visualization techniques. Later, he promoted a book by Benny Hinn, another Word- Faith advocate. If you don't know what is wrong with this, you had better do some reading. I told the pastor that to promote a person such as Hinn from the pulpit is an endorsement of Hinn and his ministry. He agreed and that was the last time I went. At the same time, he refused to read Dave Hunt's books because "it was too negative."
The fact is, many Christians are deceived and have fallen away from sound doctrine and are involved in "unbiblical" practices. The examples are almost too numerous to mention - such as the practice of being "slain in the Spirit", promoting "words of prophecy as if they were the "word" of God, visualization, healing of memories and many more. A good friend of mine went to a conference and a brother began prophesying over him, telling him things that a normal person would never have known about him. He was so impressed with this "word" but later it turned out that this prophet was a homosexual and a pedafile. So where does some of this prophetic information come from? Christians are attending churches such as Word-Faith churches that hold to heretical doctrines and practices. Christians are being lured into social and political action that is a waste of time for anyone whose citizenship is in heaven.
As I mentioned above, I have been intimately involved in Churches (Word-Faith, Vineyard and Latter Rain) that today I would easily recognize as being way off base. But at the time, I saw nothing wrong with them. I trusted the pastors. I enjoyed the worship and the fellowship. I was not negative or looking to find fault. If I had stayed, I may have gradually been swayed to follow their practices. But the Lord led me out and opened my eyes. However, I was the exception. I would imagine that most are still there and being drawn further into deception. If Christians can't guard themselves from deception today, how do they expect to do it in the future when the greatest deception of all time is upon us? So let's get rid of the myth Christians can't be deceived. It happens all the time.
The problem is deception takes place over a life time. That is why the mark of the beast is in two places: on the forehead and on the hand. In addition to being literal, this may refer to what we think and what we do. If our mind is not renewed by the Lord, but filled with the things of the world, you cannot erase a life time of bad programming. Let's just take one example. Kids today spend three or four hours a day studying in school and then another ten hours watching TV. Not that I am totally against TV, but families today walk in the door and turn on the tube and our mental programming begins. The things that are common on TV today would have been absolutely unheard of twenty or thirty years ago. The morals of the entire world are gradually being changed. We live in a world of stimulation - signals constantly bombarding us through TV, movies, magazines and books, radio, and now, the Internet. Garbage is constantly assaulting our minds, reprogramming us. The things we read, the things we talk about, the way we spend our time - either we are being transformed to the world's image or the Lord's. You can't fake it. Either we are sowing to the spirit or we to the flesh. So many are sure they would make the right choice one day if told they must take the "mark of the beast." But if they if they haven't been transformed - had what they think and do changed by the Lord every day year after year, they may be sadly mistaken. Transformation is a life time process sadly missing in the church today. The hand refers to what we do. Is the way we send our time and the things we do under the Lordship of Jesus? Unfortunately, there is little that distinguishes the Christian from the unbeliever in the U.S. today. Only the Tribulation will separate the real Christian from the pretender.
Today we talk about God's unconditional love. We imagine this big benevolent Teddy Bear in the sky who is just dying to hug us because he loves us so unconditionally. Sorry, that just isn't true. There are conditions. He loves us, true, but it means nothing unless we accept it and believe on Him. As Christians our attitude toward the Lord is sometimes cavalier - kind of like an 18 year old who feels like he will live for ever. Salvation depended upon our accepting the free gift, but once saved, we tend to take God for granted. We expect God to bless us, to take care of us and to use us. The thought that we could miss out doesn't even enter our heads. Yet, I have been around long enough to see plenty of my brothers - brothers far more gifted than I - fall away from the Lord. I have seen others so used by the Lord when they were young, fall away into disuse so that their life today counts for very little when once they were a burning torch.
I have seen best friends fall into sin, and never come back. I have seen the lights in their eyes go out as empty words came out of their mouths. I have seen the most gifted brothers throw their Christian life away for nothing - usually another woman than the wife God gave them. I have seen others fall away. One friend got into psychology and counseling deeper and deeper. He became critical of everyone - his friends, his parents. His problems became everybody's fault but his. I've seen dear brothers divorce and remarry. The second wife would find the Lord, but nothing could get him back. I've seen saints sucked into "signs and wonders." One had a brain tumor. He went on a pilgrimage around the country, to Toronto, Pensacola and back to California trying desperately to find healing.... and died any way. I've seen Christians focus on their problems until they were devoured by them. I've seen whole churches focus on their problems until devoured by them for without a vision, the people perish.
If you have been around long enough, you have seen Christians grow cold. A real man of God and pastor of a large church in Northern California, who is now with the Lord, was in the first graduating class from Dallas Theological Seminary. He told my friend before he died that of the thirty some original graduates, only three continued on with the Lord over the years. So we think we can't miss out, but we can. It happens all the time. Have you ever strayed far from the Lord? I have, and it is only His grace that brought me back. I have been a Christian for over forty years now and for every one I know that made it back, I have known ten that didn't. Let's get real and quit dreaming.
When the servant hid his talents, the Lord didn't pat him on the head and say that's okay, don't worry about it. He threw him into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. LOOK UP.. If God is anything, he is a judge, in fact, THE JUDGE. And he is not going to take any excuses in that day for your miserable, unprofitable life. He is going to call us to account for everything done in this body: what we did with our resources, with the gifts He gave us and with how we spent our time - every hour of every day.
We know that God wants to use every one of us. He has given us His life and spiritual gifts. But another major mistake is to think that God will "one day" use us. Time runs out. Old age and death creep up faster than any of us can imagine. Our kids are grown and gone and we are living on Social Security. The Lord has all the time in the world. We don't. If we aren't useful to the Lord today, the chances that we will be in the future are slim. A corollary to assuming we can't miss out is to think we are indispensable - that God needs me. He really doesn't. If I don't praise Him, the rocks will. Who am I? If I don't respond to the work the Lord has for me, He will raise up someone else to do it. I am a fool if I think I'm indispensable. However, if I humbly volunteer and put legs to my faith, He will use me in spite of my weakness and failings. As Jim Elliott, the famous missionary martyred by Auca Indians in Ecuador, said "What shall it profit a man if he gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose?" The time has come to make that decision and let it work through our lives in very practical ways.
The point is this. I believe God is speaking to us, the last generation of saints to live on the earth before His return. He is going to need our undivided love, attention and obedience like never before in history. We are an integral part of His great plan and purpose. We are His testimony on the earth. We are living proof that the Creator came down, paid the price for our sin and rebellion, and now indwells us, and transforms us into a corporate testimony - as the world declares "Behold how they love one another." (John 15: ) Above all, we are to be His witnesses - in our personal lives, in our families and in our Christian communities. God can't witness for Himself but needs two witnesses to try and judge the world. He needs the corporate testimony of the Church and Israel. But if Christians and Jews continue to harden their hearts to God, will He not judge both? We are dreaming if we think God will apply a lower standard to His physical and spiritual people. Most Jews and so-called Christians are in the world and in unbelief. His righteous nature demands judgment of His people before He can judge the world.
What sense do you get of the times that are approaching when you read Matthew 24? Read it now. It is not just of foreboding because of the horror, but of the glory before us. You and I are being called to the Church's finest hour. It is time to come out of the closet as Christians, to come out of the world, to warn people, to preach the gospel, to be built up closely with one another. It is time to forsake all distractions and ask the Lord to purify us and free us from the power of the age. It is time to ask the Lord to open our eyes to prophecy, to our true spiritual condition and the condition of the world and the church. This is an Army you must volunteer for. God is calling you, but if you don't respond, He will move on to someone else. In Revelation 12:11, he declares of the last days believer that "we overcame by the blood of the lamb, by the word of our testimony and we loved not our lives even unto death." The "last days" Church will find its glory in martyrdom.
The Lord involved me in this ministry over 25 years ago and called me specifically for this ministry on the road from Hartford, Connecticut to White Plains, New York six years ago. I would love to have the time to tell you about it in detail some time. But I can't begin to tell you what He has had to bring me through since then. I have lost just about everything, but the more I lose, the more I find Him, the more I am stripped down for the battle ahead. I volunteered six years ago, but since then He has really dealt with me harshly to get me to this point. At 54 I have lost everything. At one time, I had three houses, four cars and a motor home. I made as much in one month as most make in a year. Then God blew on it and "poof" it was gone. Stripped of things, I realize how unimportant they are. And sometimes when I wonder if I can go any lower, sure enough, down deeper I go. But the harder it gets, the more I realize it is much better to suffer the loss of all things now so there is nothing to take away, nothing to mourn for. I am so thankful for all He has brought me through because I am a very hard nut to crack. There was no other way. The Lord can only use broken vessels who fall prostrate at His feet. Brothers and sisters, the vessel is nothing. The treasure is everything. And only the mercy of the Lord brings us through those circumstances we need, tailor made for each one of us.
And if He loved me so, I know He will do the same for you. If ever there was a generation that God will demand the ultimate sacrifice from, it is ours.
I'm sorry if this scares you, but it isn't my idea. I have people say to me - "that isn't my blessed hope! My God will never allow the church to suffer." These people may be in for a rude awakening. Besides, I don't understand their objection. To me, this will be the church's finest hour with a special blessing for those involved. The Bible says that the Great Tribulation will be the worst tribulation the church has ever seen (Matthew 24: ). But do you also realize that there is a special blessing for those last days Christians that go through and even give their lives during the Tribulation. Revelation 20:4 says, "And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."
Can you imagine that? "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection." (Revelation 20:5). All of the other saints have to wait until the after the millennium but the "last days Christian" who overcomes or even gives his life, rules and reigns with Christ for the thousand years!!! Now that is a promise worth being excited about. So for those who worry about a little suffering during the Tribulation, not only do we have an important role to play as God's witnesses in the trial of the world, we have the greatest reward - to reign with Christ in the Millennium!
God bless you all
L.D. McGriff