Intensity

There is an unprecedented level of intensity in world events at this very moment. Most of the world has become numb to the intensity, though. The constant and steady stream of news has dulled our senses to what is literally unfolding all around us. I don't say this only from observation, for this is prophesied to happen this way. Throughout the Bible there is a warning: the 2nd coming of Jesus is incredibly intense, but most people, even believers, will not notice it...like a thief in the night. When the thief comes in the night, you find out in the morning what was lost, after it is too late. Anyone who has been visited by the thief feels the loss once they are awake.


There is much to lose in this generation. The idea of a thief coming to silently strip away what could have been ours is actually one of the major themes regarding the return of Jesus. Jesus said it several times, Peter said it, and Paul said it. The enemy isn't coming like a thief, JESUS is coming like a thief:


Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”


To not wake up and "be ready" is to suffer loss. Many will regret not knowing the hour they lived in, and not understanding the details of Jesus' very specific plan to return. Right now there are many significant events happening in the world that are screaming agreement with Jesus' intense and detailed plans to return. The culmination of economic factors, political factors, and social factors described in the Bible to all happen simultaneously in one generation are literally coalescing all around us, but it happens so gradually, many cannot train their attention long enough to let it change their way of life. This is actually prophesied to be the case. Jesus wasn't warning just unbelievers of His sneaky and unnoticed return...He and the first apostles warned over and over about believers not noticing the events transpiring and actually "falling away."


Luke 8:13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.


II Thessalonians 2:1-5 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?


This is how Paul described people that would actually go to church regularly in the last days (hold to a form of Godliness, but deny its real power):


II Timothy 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!


In the Thessalonian's passage, Paul said that he had already warned the people at least once before that the events leading up to Jesus' arrival were knowable and should be known..." Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?"


Satan works hard to lull mankind into thinking that the events the Bible describes either aren't knowable, won't really happen, or are a long way off. None of these are true. The events are vividly and minutely described in 150 chapters of the Bible ( the Gosples are only 89 chapters ). The events of Jesus' return are plain, straight-forward, and incredibly intense. The Bible is actually quite clear that the Church will be on earth for all the events. Most people won't boldly and confidently state this because of either lack of study, denominational pressure, or fear of other's opinions, but let me state clearly: Jesus desires to save everyone on earth. That means that all of the events surrounding His return are designed to allow people to choose Him before it is too late. His plan includes the Church...His Bride...declaring throughout each increase of intensity of His return what He is doing and why He is doing it.


This is the harvest time...God isn't going to remove all the harvest workers just before the field is ripe. He is going to send those who agree with the harvest into the fields with power! The return of the groom is the Bride's finest hour! Heaven is coming here, and when it does, the Bride will be caught up in the air to go down to Earth with Jesus, Her Groom, as He takes over the earth to renew it, not away to heaven somewhere.


But this is the trouble: the events coming at us are so intense, Jesus and the apostles warned that many BELIEVERS would approach this time casually and get crushed by it...fall away. The events Jesus has planned are so intense that they require preparation in advance to guard against "offense." Speaking privately to His disciples, Jesus said that many would get offended, believe false things, and would quit:


Matthew 24:9-14 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.


There will never be a time when most of the world says "this is it, Jesus is coming!" Right until the end, it will come as a thief in the night. Right until the end it will require faith to respond.


Many, even believers, will say "it has always been this way" as they wait to see what will happen. A casual "wait and see" approach to what is coming is actually the one thing the Bride is not supposed to do:


II Peter 3:3-6, 10-12 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?


We "hasten the day" by finding out what Jesus is doing, and agreeing with it by our choices. God is calling the Bride to wake up! He is calling the old and young, the preacher and the politician, those engaged to be married and those distracted by life, to literally use all of their resources to press into the harvest and prepare their city as a place of refuge while there is still time! Those who respond to the call will see their geographic location actually flourish during the time when all others are systematically laid to waste so that Jesus can demonstrate to the whole world that He is in charge and He makes a difference between those that choose Him and those that do not. This is the time Joel talked about. Unique times call for unique measures!:





Joel 2:11-18 The Lord is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive? That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before. Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Gather all the people— the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room. Let the priests, who minister in the Lord ’s presence, stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar. Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord ! Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery. Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say, ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’” Then the Lord will pity his people and jealously guard the honor of his land.