Greatness in Tribulation – Part 4
Stage 3 – The Bowl Judgments
In stage 3, called the Bowl Judgments, God is going to begin withdrawing His own protection from the earth and the people in rebellion to Him. Even during the awful trumpet judgments, God is still actively restraining the enemy by His goodness being given to all people…even those in rebellion. He is protecting minds, He is protecting two-thirds of the resources of the earth. He is limiting the demons released from hell from actually killing people…holding out an offer of time to allow repentance to happen. For those that harden their heart through the trumpet judgments, God, because of His great commitment to love, will have no choice but to reveal to those blaspheming Him, the true nature of life apart from His protection. This is what life begins to look like apart from God’s protection, which we are ALL…saint and sinner alike…enjoying copious amounts of right now. I’ll break it down with explanations:
Revelation 16:1-15 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth."
Your body is right now protected moment by moment, when God withdraws his protection, you will immediately start breaking down:
(2) So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. (3)
Right now, God is protecting the resources of the earth necessary for life. When He withdraws His protection, immediately the resources of the earth will become unusable for life:
Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died. (4) Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. (5) And I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. (6) For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due." (7) And I heard another from the altar saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments." (8) Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. (9) And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. (10)
Right now, God is protecting your mind and letting the light of His glory shine on all people. When He withdraws the light, even though mankind doesn’t sense it with their eyes, they will FEEL it in their hearts. This is darkness you can FEEL. Apart from the judgment released in Exodus, no people have ever known what this feels like. Even right now, God is giving light even to the mind of unbelievers. Without this light, you will go mad. God is protecting all people, even those who claim He does not exist, right now from being completely deceived by satan. At the release of the fifth and sixth bowls, God will allow strong delusion to come upon all people in rebellion to Him in order to reveal the truth that God is the only source of life. These are all designed to cause people in rebellion to repent:
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. (11) They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds. (12) Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. (13) And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (14) For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (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."
The antidote to stage 3 – truth and thankfulness
Satan’s desire is to keep himself out of prison. In order to do this, satan needs to prevent Jewish people from inviting Jesus back as messiah in Jerusalem. This is why Jerusalem is the location of the most world tension. As this plan slips from satan’s grip, his last lashing out is to keep God from getting what God wants, which is all of the people He created to live in perfect fullness with Him forever. Satan will do this through blasphemy…accusing God of being evil for releasing the Revelation judgments.
Satan is already working out strong heart ties to a spirit of blasphemy in the earth. If you are in a tough situation and your confession is “God won’t give me what I need”…this root of blasphemy is already at work in your heart. On every level of society, satan is actively cultivating a root of blasphemy in covetousness, jealousy, and fear. You can easily see it if you know what to look for.
For the last couple of summers, blockbuster after blockbuster have had the same theme. Reptillian like space invaders invade earth with destruction. Rather than repent, the people rise up and defeat the enemy hoardes. This is conditioning the masses of the earth for the time when the 5th and 6th trumpets release demons that will be seen, and rather than repent, the people of the earth will rise up and accuse God of evil for releasing the judgment. They will fight helplessly against these demons. If they would only repent, they would be instantly marked and saved. But right now, satan, through entertainment geared at our kids, is cultivating a root of blasphemy. We should be teaching our kids the truth about the offensive events coming and the key that repentance holds.
One of the major strongholds satan is building for blasphemy has strong roots within the Church itself. This stronghold is to prepare the Bride for something other than God has planned. This plan of the enemy ramped up greatly in the 1830’s with new theology regarding the rapture. Until the 1830’s, no one had ever heard of a pre-tribulation rapture. This theology conditions hearts to not fully prepare for the long dark night coming. It causes many to take a “wait and see” approach to the return of Jesus.
God knows this and has prophesied that this strategy of satan will be very effective. God knows your future but refuses to choose it. You can start tearing out the roots of blasphemy any time you wish, but God will not choose this for you. Because of this new theology, the Church has been tempted to separate itself from the fate of the rest of the world. Rather than partner with God in ushering in the return of the Bridegroom, many think God is going to whisk them away before the events He has planned for the Bride. This dynamic has left many in Jesus’ Body seeing the events described in the Book of Revelation as “evil.” John, the author of the Book, didn’t see it that way. The truth is, all of the Revelation judgments are good. God ONLY does good…always:
Luke 18:19 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
God is the fullness of every good thing. He is infinitely good. Good is not even possible apart from agreement with God. (That is what makes the antichrist’s claims of hope and change the biggest lie ever perpetrated on planet earth. Antichrist’s peace is war, his wealth is poverty, his life is death, his fairness is great inequality.) Right now, many are teaching that God would never let His Church walk through the greatest moment in the Bride’s story. The Book of Revelation is the story of God’s people, for the first time since Pentecost, walking in agreement with each other and God proclaiming that the intense things He is doing are good. Jesus said when this happens, the earth will see that He is the Messiah:
John 17:20-21 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (21) that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Jesus prayed you and I would be “one” with Him (dying on a cross), John (attempted to be martyred), Peter (martyred), Paul (martyred)…you get my point…Not just one in death, but one in life also…healing the sick, casting out demons, preaching the gospel of truth despite opposition.
We are the faithful witness that is supposed to be bringing in the harvest. We do this by healing the sick, casting out demons, and teaching the earth under judgment everything we have learned about the goodness of God through our own trials. This is your testimony! You have a testimony of overcoming what God has allowed the enemy to do in your life in order to glorify the truth of God’s power to overcome the schemes of the enemy.
The first step to being ready for bowl judgments is avoiding walking through them in a natural body! You need a new body to flourish in this time! The rapture of the Bride, giving of new bodies to her that can never die…not to escape the bowl judgments, but to march with Jesus as He is releasing them…is the last…the 7th trumpet:
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Embracing the truth of the rapture and its timing is very important for the Church. Many see it as a debatable issue. It really is not. The reason it isn’t debatable is because of the overwhelming amount of information in the Bible about the rapture, also called finishing of the “Great Mystery,” (I have written a ton about this in the past, but let me know if you want more info) BUT more importantly, the massive risk tied to not understanding the role of the Church in not just surviving the events of Revelation, but actively participating in them!
EVERY TIME Jesus spoke of His return, it was bookended by a warning to “BE READY.” Jesus has a very specific and VERY OFFENSIVE plan that He is executing to drive evil off the planet. Understanding the plan and being ready to endure is essential. The most important aspect of being ready to endure is understanding exactly how long and exactly WHAT it is you are going to endure. From the time of the great tribulation beginning, it is 1,260 days until the rapture. We are supposed to KNOW this and count down the days!
To be caught off-guard…unready…is a recipe to fall away. Falling away means to quit trusting in the invisible savior and giving in to the man based plan…giving in to BLASPHEMY. Paul said this MUST happen before Jesus returns:
2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 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. (3) 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,
Blasphemy happens when you don’t have accurate information about God’s plan being good. You then begin calling God’s good plan evil, and looking for good any place you can find it. Jesus explicitly and privately warned Christians about this:
Matthew 24:9-13 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended (because they were not ready), will betray one another (they will turn each other in to the surveillance forces trying to stop Christians from rebelling against the antichrist system) , and will hate one another. (11) Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (12) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold (this is the falling away into blasphemy. Those whose hearts where once warm to God will grow cold to God and each other). (13) But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Endurance is rooted in having the right attitude about tribulation. Many think God will rescue them from the great tribulation. God doesn’t want to TAKE YOU UP before the great tribulation, He wants to GROW YOU UP to partner with Him in it! Every earth-changing follower of Jesus has had to come to grips with what Paul said:
Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; (4) and perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
If tribulation is good for believers, Great Tribulation is great for believers. If you are the prized possession of the author of the story, the story is ALWAYS good for you. In its correct context , this often quoted passage is an END-TIME passage:
Romans 8:28-31 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (31) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Right now, there is a root of blasphemy in many Christian’s hearts. We are called to see all things in our lives, the north wind and the south wind, as a part of God’s good plan. That doesn’t mean we accept the evil God allows and just lie down and take it. No! We resist the devil and make Him flee, but our confession is that a good God allowed us to have the battle for His own good reasons.
If there is a lack, we contend for the filling of the lack, but we confess it is a good God orchestrating our circumstances for His and our glory! We train our hearts to see the brother or sister that offends us as a necessary part of God’s good plan to train our hearts to resist offense. We die to our own plans and live in faithful trust that God’s economy…giving away our time and our money, maybe to never see the return on this side of the rapture…is good! This is how we resist offense. This is how we gain a testimony of God’s goodness overcoming the evil God allowed to touch us in order that we would have the same opportunity for greatness as Job:
Job 1:8-12 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" (9) So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? (10) Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. (11) But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" (12) And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
And Job overcame with this testimony:
Job 42:4-6 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' (5) "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. (6) Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
Before I had only heard of you, and now I have seen you! What a testimony. But many in our day are getting used to calling good evil and evil good:
Isaiah 5:19-21 That say, "Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it." (20) Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (21) Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
Many claim to be looking for the return of Jesus. They even say “I wish He would hurry up!”…they believe the world is so evil that God will pluck them off it and destroy it. God is never going to destroy what He called very good. He is going to renovate it and all who would choose to dwell with Him in it! Believing He is going to pluck all of the self-appointed ”righteous” off of it and leave behind for destruction everyone else who has no idea what He is doing with fire…that idea is evil in the sight of the one who called this planet “very good.”
God intends to save people with the gospel all the way through every event of Revelation. The great commission was given to people, not angels. The earth belongs to man, and Jesus’ Bride is going to “keep and tend it”…not abandon it. The Bride is appointed to preach the gospel, and bring in the harvest through EVERY stage of Revelation. This is another END-TIME passage in its context:
Romans 10:13-14 For "WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED." (14) How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Here, Paul is drawing on the Book of Joel in another END-TIME PASSAGE:
Joel 2:30-32 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. (31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. (32) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
Many claim to look for Jesus’ coming and all the while do not realize they have no root to endure the intensity of that day. Some even believe in their hearts that the plans he has laid in Revelation are evil, and say God would never ask His Bride to walk through those events. By their own speculating on the events of Revelation, many of these leave others in a state of false comfort and call that “good,” even though those very ones they have taught to take comfort in fables will languish in that intense day with no root in truth, and may very well fall away. This is evil in God’s sight.
Offense is going to come, but to prepare for Stage 3, the teachers (anyone who speculates about the book of Revelation) need to know the plan and tell the truth about God’s love being His justice so all we begin earnestly filling their lamps with oil, and in so doing, actually hasten the day of Jesus’ return. This is the antidote for Stage 3:
2 Peter 3:11-12 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (12) 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 are to be looking for an hastening the coming of Jesus with a sober-minded understanding of all that means. Now is the time to get ready!
In stage 3, called the Bowl Judgments, God is going to begin withdrawing His own protection from the earth and the people in rebellion to Him. Even during the awful trumpet judgments, God is still actively restraining the enemy by His goodness being given to all people…even those in rebellion. He is protecting minds, He is protecting two-thirds of the resources of the earth. He is limiting the demons released from hell from actually killing people…holding out an offer of time to allow repentance to happen. For those that harden their heart through the trumpet judgments, God, because of His great commitment to love, will have no choice but to reveal to those blaspheming Him, the true nature of life apart from His protection. This is what life begins to look like apart from God’s protection, which we are ALL…saint and sinner alike…enjoying copious amounts of right now. I’ll break it down with explanations:
Revelation 16:1-15 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth."
Your body is right now protected moment by moment, when God withdraws his protection, you will immediately start breaking down:
(2) So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. (3)
Right now, God is protecting the resources of the earth necessary for life. When He withdraws His protection, immediately the resources of the earth will become unusable for life:
Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died. (4) Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. (5) And I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. (6) For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due." (7) And I heard another from the altar saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments." (8) Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. (9) And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. (10)
Right now, God is protecting your mind and letting the light of His glory shine on all people. When He withdraws the light, even though mankind doesn’t sense it with their eyes, they will FEEL it in their hearts. This is darkness you can FEEL. Apart from the judgment released in Exodus, no people have ever known what this feels like. Even right now, God is giving light even to the mind of unbelievers. Without this light, you will go mad. God is protecting all people, even those who claim He does not exist, right now from being completely deceived by satan. At the release of the fifth and sixth bowls, God will allow strong delusion to come upon all people in rebellion to Him in order to reveal the truth that God is the only source of life. These are all designed to cause people in rebellion to repent:
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. (11) They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds. (12) Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. (13) And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (14) For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (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."
The antidote to stage 3 – truth and thankfulness
Satan’s desire is to keep himself out of prison. In order to do this, satan needs to prevent Jewish people from inviting Jesus back as messiah in Jerusalem. This is why Jerusalem is the location of the most world tension. As this plan slips from satan’s grip, his last lashing out is to keep God from getting what God wants, which is all of the people He created to live in perfect fullness with Him forever. Satan will do this through blasphemy…accusing God of being evil for releasing the Revelation judgments.
Satan is already working out strong heart ties to a spirit of blasphemy in the earth. If you are in a tough situation and your confession is “God won’t give me what I need”…this root of blasphemy is already at work in your heart. On every level of society, satan is actively cultivating a root of blasphemy in covetousness, jealousy, and fear. You can easily see it if you know what to look for.
For the last couple of summers, blockbuster after blockbuster have had the same theme. Reptillian like space invaders invade earth with destruction. Rather than repent, the people rise up and defeat the enemy hoardes. This is conditioning the masses of the earth for the time when the 5th and 6th trumpets release demons that will be seen, and rather than repent, the people of the earth will rise up and accuse God of evil for releasing the judgment. They will fight helplessly against these demons. If they would only repent, they would be instantly marked and saved. But right now, satan, through entertainment geared at our kids, is cultivating a root of blasphemy. We should be teaching our kids the truth about the offensive events coming and the key that repentance holds.
One of the major strongholds satan is building for blasphemy has strong roots within the Church itself. This stronghold is to prepare the Bride for something other than God has planned. This plan of the enemy ramped up greatly in the 1830’s with new theology regarding the rapture. Until the 1830’s, no one had ever heard of a pre-tribulation rapture. This theology conditions hearts to not fully prepare for the long dark night coming. It causes many to take a “wait and see” approach to the return of Jesus.
God knows this and has prophesied that this strategy of satan will be very effective. God knows your future but refuses to choose it. You can start tearing out the roots of blasphemy any time you wish, but God will not choose this for you. Because of this new theology, the Church has been tempted to separate itself from the fate of the rest of the world. Rather than partner with God in ushering in the return of the Bridegroom, many think God is going to whisk them away before the events He has planned for the Bride. This dynamic has left many in Jesus’ Body seeing the events described in the Book of Revelation as “evil.” John, the author of the Book, didn’t see it that way. The truth is, all of the Revelation judgments are good. God ONLY does good…always:
Luke 18:19 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
God is the fullness of every good thing. He is infinitely good. Good is not even possible apart from agreement with God. (That is what makes the antichrist’s claims of hope and change the biggest lie ever perpetrated on planet earth. Antichrist’s peace is war, his wealth is poverty, his life is death, his fairness is great inequality.) Right now, many are teaching that God would never let His Church walk through the greatest moment in the Bride’s story. The Book of Revelation is the story of God’s people, for the first time since Pentecost, walking in agreement with each other and God proclaiming that the intense things He is doing are good. Jesus said when this happens, the earth will see that He is the Messiah:
John 17:20-21 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (21) that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Jesus prayed you and I would be “one” with Him (dying on a cross), John (attempted to be martyred), Peter (martyred), Paul (martyred)…you get my point…Not just one in death, but one in life also…healing the sick, casting out demons, preaching the gospel of truth despite opposition.
We are the faithful witness that is supposed to be bringing in the harvest. We do this by healing the sick, casting out demons, and teaching the earth under judgment everything we have learned about the goodness of God through our own trials. This is your testimony! You have a testimony of overcoming what God has allowed the enemy to do in your life in order to glorify the truth of God’s power to overcome the schemes of the enemy.
The first step to being ready for bowl judgments is avoiding walking through them in a natural body! You need a new body to flourish in this time! The rapture of the Bride, giving of new bodies to her that can never die…not to escape the bowl judgments, but to march with Jesus as He is releasing them…is the last…the 7th trumpet:
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Embracing the truth of the rapture and its timing is very important for the Church. Many see it as a debatable issue. It really is not. The reason it isn’t debatable is because of the overwhelming amount of information in the Bible about the rapture, also called finishing of the “Great Mystery,” (I have written a ton about this in the past, but let me know if you want more info) BUT more importantly, the massive risk tied to not understanding the role of the Church in not just surviving the events of Revelation, but actively participating in them!
EVERY TIME Jesus spoke of His return, it was bookended by a warning to “BE READY.” Jesus has a very specific and VERY OFFENSIVE plan that He is executing to drive evil off the planet. Understanding the plan and being ready to endure is essential. The most important aspect of being ready to endure is understanding exactly how long and exactly WHAT it is you are going to endure. From the time of the great tribulation beginning, it is 1,260 days until the rapture. We are supposed to KNOW this and count down the days!
To be caught off-guard…unready…is a recipe to fall away. Falling away means to quit trusting in the invisible savior and giving in to the man based plan…giving in to BLASPHEMY. Paul said this MUST happen before Jesus returns:
2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 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. (3) 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,
Blasphemy happens when you don’t have accurate information about God’s plan being good. You then begin calling God’s good plan evil, and looking for good any place you can find it. Jesus explicitly and privately warned Christians about this:
Matthew 24:9-13 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended (because they were not ready), will betray one another (they will turn each other in to the surveillance forces trying to stop Christians from rebelling against the antichrist system) , and will hate one another. (11) Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (12) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold (this is the falling away into blasphemy. Those whose hearts where once warm to God will grow cold to God and each other). (13) But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Endurance is rooted in having the right attitude about tribulation. Many think God will rescue them from the great tribulation. God doesn’t want to TAKE YOU UP before the great tribulation, He wants to GROW YOU UP to partner with Him in it! Every earth-changing follower of Jesus has had to come to grips with what Paul said:
Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; (4) and perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
If tribulation is good for believers, Great Tribulation is great for believers. If you are the prized possession of the author of the story, the story is ALWAYS good for you. In its correct context , this often quoted passage is an END-TIME passage:
Romans 8:28-31 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (31) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Right now, there is a root of blasphemy in many Christian’s hearts. We are called to see all things in our lives, the north wind and the south wind, as a part of God’s good plan. That doesn’t mean we accept the evil God allows and just lie down and take it. No! We resist the devil and make Him flee, but our confession is that a good God allowed us to have the battle for His own good reasons.
If there is a lack, we contend for the filling of the lack, but we confess it is a good God orchestrating our circumstances for His and our glory! We train our hearts to see the brother or sister that offends us as a necessary part of God’s good plan to train our hearts to resist offense. We die to our own plans and live in faithful trust that God’s economy…giving away our time and our money, maybe to never see the return on this side of the rapture…is good! This is how we resist offense. This is how we gain a testimony of God’s goodness overcoming the evil God allowed to touch us in order that we would have the same opportunity for greatness as Job:
Job 1:8-12 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" (9) So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? (10) Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. (11) But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" (12) And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
And Job overcame with this testimony:
Job 42:4-6 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' (5) "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. (6) Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
Before I had only heard of you, and now I have seen you! What a testimony. But many in our day are getting used to calling good evil and evil good:
Isaiah 5:19-21 That say, "Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it." (20) Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (21) Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
Many claim to be looking for the return of Jesus. They even say “I wish He would hurry up!”…they believe the world is so evil that God will pluck them off it and destroy it. God is never going to destroy what He called very good. He is going to renovate it and all who would choose to dwell with Him in it! Believing He is going to pluck all of the self-appointed ”righteous” off of it and leave behind for destruction everyone else who has no idea what He is doing with fire…that idea is evil in the sight of the one who called this planet “very good.”
God intends to save people with the gospel all the way through every event of Revelation. The great commission was given to people, not angels. The earth belongs to man, and Jesus’ Bride is going to “keep and tend it”…not abandon it. The Bride is appointed to preach the gospel, and bring in the harvest through EVERY stage of Revelation. This is another END-TIME passage in its context:
Romans 10:13-14 For "WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED." (14) How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Here, Paul is drawing on the Book of Joel in another END-TIME PASSAGE:
Joel 2:30-32 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. (31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. (32) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
Many claim to look for Jesus’ coming and all the while do not realize they have no root to endure the intensity of that day. Some even believe in their hearts that the plans he has laid in Revelation are evil, and say God would never ask His Bride to walk through those events. By their own speculating on the events of Revelation, many of these leave others in a state of false comfort and call that “good,” even though those very ones they have taught to take comfort in fables will languish in that intense day with no root in truth, and may very well fall away. This is evil in God’s sight.
Offense is going to come, but to prepare for Stage 3, the teachers (anyone who speculates about the book of Revelation) need to know the plan and tell the truth about God’s love being His justice so all we begin earnestly filling their lamps with oil, and in so doing, actually hasten the day of Jesus’ return. This is the antidote for Stage 3:
2 Peter 3:11-12 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (12) 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 are to be looking for an hastening the coming of Jesus with a sober-minded understanding of all that means. Now is the time to get ready!
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