Tribulation from the Inside Out (Part 2)
Habakkuk 1:5-6 “Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
Every time Jesus spoke of His return, He said to watch, pray, and/or be ready. Everyone who loves His return will do these things. For much of the church, tradition has replaced the truth of the word. When the subject of the end times comes up many go on what grandma said, or what Hollywood is making movies about, or what they heard at church...
MANY mistakenly believe "no one will ever know the day"... or "no one can really understand Revelation." The end time events Revelation describes were not just known by Jesus’ disciples, they are literally what drove every writer of the New Testament. James, Jude, Paul, Peter, John... these guys were all living in agreement with Jesus primarily by watching, praying, and making the people around them ready:
II Thessalonians 2:2-5 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?
Peter taught the same things often...here he was giving another reminder:
II Peter 3:1-4 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 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.”
Peter warned against those who say “nothing is really changing…calm down.” The change is what produces tribulation. Things are NOT staying the same... they are changing. Peter believed this and responded 2,000 years ago! It is a judgment against the church to not do the same NOW, when prophetic fulfillment is happening at an unprecedented rate! Agreeing with God about this fact…that the earth is QUICKLY changing and producing tribulation… is step one in watching. There is much change to watch for.
Tribulation is EVIDENCE of change. Just like in part one of this series we looked at how personal renewal results in internal tribulation, as light comes into our hearts... global renewal results in tangible global tribulation, as it builds it will result in GREAT tribulation.
It is no secret, I believe tribulation...the end time global one…began last December and is growing right now. The news and the Bible actually supports this belief in many ways. According to the Bible, once the end time tribulation starts, it will increase in intensity until Jesus returns. Ask yourself, are things calming down? Even though for years trouble would rise and fall…since the beginning of 2014 trouble is setting a new trajectory…up…up…up… There is a reason it isn’t backing down…That is because the tribulation is the incremental return of Jesus to the earth. It will take seven prophetic years to complete, by design. This is to make the earth READY to receive Jesus. That is why the judgments in the book of Revelation are ordered, numbered, and build one upon another. It is a very measured and incremental release of glory into the earth in order to “adjust the eyes of the earth” to receive Jesus:
1 Timothy 6:13-16 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
Paul told Tim that Jesus’ brightness and His coming required a response…keeping the commandments of God…primarily found in the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the roadmap for the end time Church to GET READY TO RECEIVE GOD. The Sermon on the Mount will be proven MOST true in the end time tribulation…the storm Jesus warned of:
Matthew 7:21-27 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Jesus is very bright... brighter than the sun. If he were to return this moment, much of the earth would be consumed in His bright appearing, or knocked off a very unstable foundation. Many say "Jesus will come back any minute"... they are hoping that He is about to rescue them from the trouble…the evidence of the change they are supposed to be agreeing with, NOT HIDING FROM. While saying Jesus could come back any minute may seem comforting, it actually has the opposite effect...because it is untrue. The Bible promises a couple of things MUST happen before Jesus returns:
1. The antichrist must be revealed
2. The church must be "sifted"... or shaken. This will produce a "falling away"... people getting sorted out of the Bride:
II Thessalonians 2:3-4 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.
The whole world is going to get "shaken" or "sifted" before Jesus returns. This is actually part of the process of making the earth ready to receive Jesus. Jesus was very clear that the end of the age is a harvest time. Harvesting involves threshing...or separating out the real grain from all the junk that looks like, or is associated with, the grain... this has always been the plan. Tradition in our churches has resulted in very few teaching this plan, but this IS the plan:
Matthew 13:20-21 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
Lots of people who get saved, when trouble comes, and it is promised to come... will fall away. Their faith has never been matured because they resisted opportunities to trust God along the way, not realizing they were headed for one big final test. It is not too late to get ready, but time is QUICKLY running out. Whatever preparations you have made WILL be tested. That is what the tribulation is... a test of faith... a test of who really wants to live with Jesus as the leader of their lives. He is not coming to occupy second place. this test will prepare the earth to receive Him as king:
Revelation 3:10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.
It is important to understand that the falling away…which means Christians denying Jesus in a time of pressure and trouble… is the result of a test God desires to conduct on the earth. This is called “threshing. ”
Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Threshing is “sifting”…or sanctifying…setting apart…a group of people loyal to Him.. True grain. This has always been the plan. It is in NUMEROUS places in the Bible...very easy to find, but the truth is: few are watching. Let me say this plainly friends: the test is being conducted all around you RIGHT NOW. It is starting subtly…Hillsong Church wrestling with a homosexual stance, mainline denominations rejecting Biblical truth about Israel, racial divisions being instigated and acted upon, economic divisions, divisions about night and day prayer, divisions about unity, and eschatology. It began in a very pronounced way nearly a year ago and it is increasing in intensity right now. It will continue to increase as trouble increases in the world. There will result a true loyal to Jesus as expressed in the Bible Bride, and a Harlot Church. Right now many are uniting in man based strength around watering down the truth. This is the seed of the harlot church.
This is the format of the test: God is allowing people to get what they want. Evil men are getting more successful at getting their evil way. People that love Jesus' appearing are getting more successful in understanding and releasing Revelation of His return. People that want to see God are getting more successful in experiencing Him, and in the middle of all this intensity, this shaking, a fire is being created. It is sorting out people based on their loyalty to God the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. It is really centered on Israel, but it is going out to all the earth…wave after wave lashing the shore of the hearts, families, and churches as an indication of the coming hurricane:
Amos 9:9-10 “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. But all the sinners will die by the sword— all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’
The reason that God's people falsely believing "nothing bad will happen" is so offensive to God is that it disarms the ones that are supposed to be watching, praying and getting ready. Understanding tribulation is a BIBLICAL formula…the perfect incentive to GET READY…which, in large part, is growing in holiness….getting pure and spotless.
Tribulation is going to happen globally from the inside out because of God's great MERCY. The trouble touching the Church first will get her ready to help the world deal with tribulation. It is also a signal to all of creation that change is happening. When the Church becomes powerful in holiness, the world will KNOW Jesus is God’s son.” That is what the separation…the sanctification…is for:
John 17:18-23 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. 20 "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. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Glory…light coming into a very dark world means TRIBULATION…tribulation is evidence of the change REALLY happening. According to Jesus, it starts from the inside…with His Bride being gathered together around that truth, then manifesting HIS GLORY… HIS LIGHT…in advance of the BIG demonstration of light that comes with Him. The Bride responding adjusts the eyes of the earth to receive Jesus.
Because the change to Jesus' glory coming back to earth is so HARD... the tribulation it is producing is real... God, in His mercy let's it begin with those MOST READY FIRST! It starts in the church.
1 Peter 4:16-19 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?” So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
The church feels the tribulation before the world realizes what is happening. The Great Tribulation marks the moment when the fire that began first in individual hearts, then had spread into the church at the beginning of the tribulation, gets so big the world realizes they are in this test, too!
The timing of these events is VERY clear in the Bible. The first half takes 1,260 days, and the second half takes 1,260 days. The total is 7 prophetic years (360-day years, which is the average between Israel’s 354-day calendar and the Roman 365-day calendar). The first half... the first 1260 days...we call tribulation (marking the change inside the church) the second half we call Great Tribulation (marking the change outside the church). Tribulation occurs from the inside out.
Right now, the Church is being disrupted as it is torn between loyalty to the Word and watering it down to get people united. The tribulation is causing the church to wrestle between being relevant to God or relevant to the world. This is actually a result of the maturing of Jesus' very old plan. The division is actually the shaking that is beginning to produce a pure Bride. Jesus REALLY likes this division:
Luke 12:49-53 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
The tribulation is also causing the church to be divided between those who say "get ready" and those who ignorantly say "I am ready"... Jesus told James, John, Peter...all of His best friends who saw Him with their eyes and we're saved... He told those saved people to be ready. Only arrogance would claim readiness without any real action in advance. Let me be the first to say: I am not even close to as ready as I want to be. The more ready I get, the more intense I see the events are going to be, and the more I want my expectations to drive my family and I to be ready to not just endure, but to endure JOYFULLY!
Those who say "nothing bad will happen to me because I am saved" are not just short changing themselves... they are short-circuiting God's plan to get their families ready... and short- circuiting God's plan to get a Bride ready to endure offense in power. Tribulation WILL touch every believer first, and if your expectations of peace and safety are incorrect, you run a great risk of being offended which will drive many Christians to betray one another:
Matthew 24:3, 7-13 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world? ” ... Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Jesus returning means TRUTH is emerging. To believe comforting yet untrue things will, in the end, cause many to be offended. Paul, Peter, John... these guys taught end time often as a way to prevent offense. If you have right expectations, then you can make choices to agree with Jesus' plans to bring change... you can flow with Him instead of flowing against Him. Flowing against Jesus as He returns will actually produce more tribulation in your life. Resisting change that MUST happen only makes your experience of that change worse. Flowing with Jesus will minimize your "feeling" the disruption of the change coming to earth. This is the promise:
Isaiah 27:4-5 Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns Against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of My strength, That he may make peace with Me; And he shall make peace with Me.”
Right now, ignoring the trouble is producing much of the tribulation in the church. It isn’t the ones warning causing division…it is those mocking, or resisting the warning, that are actually producing the division among those loyal to Jesus:
Jude 1:17-25 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Watch. Pray. Be Ready. It is already happening from the inside out…and Jesus told us it would happen THIS way.
Every time Jesus spoke of His return, He said to watch, pray, and/or be ready. Everyone who loves His return will do these things. For much of the church, tradition has replaced the truth of the word. When the subject of the end times comes up many go on what grandma said, or what Hollywood is making movies about, or what they heard at church...
MANY mistakenly believe "no one will ever know the day"... or "no one can really understand Revelation." The end time events Revelation describes were not just known by Jesus’ disciples, they are literally what drove every writer of the New Testament. James, Jude, Paul, Peter, John... these guys were all living in agreement with Jesus primarily by watching, praying, and making the people around them ready:
II Thessalonians 2:2-5 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?
Peter taught the same things often...here he was giving another reminder:
II Peter 3:1-4 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 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.”
Peter warned against those who say “nothing is really changing…calm down.” The change is what produces tribulation. Things are NOT staying the same... they are changing. Peter believed this and responded 2,000 years ago! It is a judgment against the church to not do the same NOW, when prophetic fulfillment is happening at an unprecedented rate! Agreeing with God about this fact…that the earth is QUICKLY changing and producing tribulation… is step one in watching. There is much change to watch for.
Tribulation is EVIDENCE of change. Just like in part one of this series we looked at how personal renewal results in internal tribulation, as light comes into our hearts... global renewal results in tangible global tribulation, as it builds it will result in GREAT tribulation.
It is no secret, I believe tribulation...the end time global one…began last December and is growing right now. The news and the Bible actually supports this belief in many ways. According to the Bible, once the end time tribulation starts, it will increase in intensity until Jesus returns. Ask yourself, are things calming down? Even though for years trouble would rise and fall…since the beginning of 2014 trouble is setting a new trajectory…up…up…up… There is a reason it isn’t backing down…That is because the tribulation is the incremental return of Jesus to the earth. It will take seven prophetic years to complete, by design. This is to make the earth READY to receive Jesus. That is why the judgments in the book of Revelation are ordered, numbered, and build one upon another. It is a very measured and incremental release of glory into the earth in order to “adjust the eyes of the earth” to receive Jesus:
1 Timothy 6:13-16 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
Paul told Tim that Jesus’ brightness and His coming required a response…keeping the commandments of God…primarily found in the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the roadmap for the end time Church to GET READY TO RECEIVE GOD. The Sermon on the Mount will be proven MOST true in the end time tribulation…the storm Jesus warned of:
Matthew 7:21-27 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Jesus is very bright... brighter than the sun. If he were to return this moment, much of the earth would be consumed in His bright appearing, or knocked off a very unstable foundation. Many say "Jesus will come back any minute"... they are hoping that He is about to rescue them from the trouble…the evidence of the change they are supposed to be agreeing with, NOT HIDING FROM. While saying Jesus could come back any minute may seem comforting, it actually has the opposite effect...because it is untrue. The Bible promises a couple of things MUST happen before Jesus returns:
1. The antichrist must be revealed
2. The church must be "sifted"... or shaken. This will produce a "falling away"... people getting sorted out of the Bride:
II Thessalonians 2:3-4 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.
The whole world is going to get "shaken" or "sifted" before Jesus returns. This is actually part of the process of making the earth ready to receive Jesus. Jesus was very clear that the end of the age is a harvest time. Harvesting involves threshing...or separating out the real grain from all the junk that looks like, or is associated with, the grain... this has always been the plan. Tradition in our churches has resulted in very few teaching this plan, but this IS the plan:
Matthew 13:20-21 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
Lots of people who get saved, when trouble comes, and it is promised to come... will fall away. Their faith has never been matured because they resisted opportunities to trust God along the way, not realizing they were headed for one big final test. It is not too late to get ready, but time is QUICKLY running out. Whatever preparations you have made WILL be tested. That is what the tribulation is... a test of faith... a test of who really wants to live with Jesus as the leader of their lives. He is not coming to occupy second place. this test will prepare the earth to receive Him as king:
Revelation 3:10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.
It is important to understand that the falling away…which means Christians denying Jesus in a time of pressure and trouble… is the result of a test God desires to conduct on the earth. This is called “threshing. ”
Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Threshing is “sifting”…or sanctifying…setting apart…a group of people loyal to Him.. True grain. This has always been the plan. It is in NUMEROUS places in the Bible...very easy to find, but the truth is: few are watching. Let me say this plainly friends: the test is being conducted all around you RIGHT NOW. It is starting subtly…Hillsong Church wrestling with a homosexual stance, mainline denominations rejecting Biblical truth about Israel, racial divisions being instigated and acted upon, economic divisions, divisions about night and day prayer, divisions about unity, and eschatology. It began in a very pronounced way nearly a year ago and it is increasing in intensity right now. It will continue to increase as trouble increases in the world. There will result a true loyal to Jesus as expressed in the Bible Bride, and a Harlot Church. Right now many are uniting in man based strength around watering down the truth. This is the seed of the harlot church.
This is the format of the test: God is allowing people to get what they want. Evil men are getting more successful at getting their evil way. People that love Jesus' appearing are getting more successful in understanding and releasing Revelation of His return. People that want to see God are getting more successful in experiencing Him, and in the middle of all this intensity, this shaking, a fire is being created. It is sorting out people based on their loyalty to God the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. It is really centered on Israel, but it is going out to all the earth…wave after wave lashing the shore of the hearts, families, and churches as an indication of the coming hurricane:
Amos 9:9-10 “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. But all the sinners will die by the sword— all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’
The reason that God's people falsely believing "nothing bad will happen" is so offensive to God is that it disarms the ones that are supposed to be watching, praying and getting ready. Understanding tribulation is a BIBLICAL formula…the perfect incentive to GET READY…which, in large part, is growing in holiness….getting pure and spotless.
Tribulation is going to happen globally from the inside out because of God's great MERCY. The trouble touching the Church first will get her ready to help the world deal with tribulation. It is also a signal to all of creation that change is happening. When the Church becomes powerful in holiness, the world will KNOW Jesus is God’s son.” That is what the separation…the sanctification…is for:
John 17:18-23 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. 20 "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. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Glory…light coming into a very dark world means TRIBULATION…tribulation is evidence of the change REALLY happening. According to Jesus, it starts from the inside…with His Bride being gathered together around that truth, then manifesting HIS GLORY… HIS LIGHT…in advance of the BIG demonstration of light that comes with Him. The Bride responding adjusts the eyes of the earth to receive Jesus.
Because the change to Jesus' glory coming back to earth is so HARD... the tribulation it is producing is real... God, in His mercy let's it begin with those MOST READY FIRST! It starts in the church.
1 Peter 4:16-19 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?” So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
The church feels the tribulation before the world realizes what is happening. The Great Tribulation marks the moment when the fire that began first in individual hearts, then had spread into the church at the beginning of the tribulation, gets so big the world realizes they are in this test, too!
The timing of these events is VERY clear in the Bible. The first half takes 1,260 days, and the second half takes 1,260 days. The total is 7 prophetic years (360-day years, which is the average between Israel’s 354-day calendar and the Roman 365-day calendar). The first half... the first 1260 days...we call tribulation (marking the change inside the church) the second half we call Great Tribulation (marking the change outside the church). Tribulation occurs from the inside out.
Right now, the Church is being disrupted as it is torn between loyalty to the Word and watering it down to get people united. The tribulation is causing the church to wrestle between being relevant to God or relevant to the world. This is actually a result of the maturing of Jesus' very old plan. The division is actually the shaking that is beginning to produce a pure Bride. Jesus REALLY likes this division:
Luke 12:49-53 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
The tribulation is also causing the church to be divided between those who say "get ready" and those who ignorantly say "I am ready"... Jesus told James, John, Peter...all of His best friends who saw Him with their eyes and we're saved... He told those saved people to be ready. Only arrogance would claim readiness without any real action in advance. Let me be the first to say: I am not even close to as ready as I want to be. The more ready I get, the more intense I see the events are going to be, and the more I want my expectations to drive my family and I to be ready to not just endure, but to endure JOYFULLY!
Those who say "nothing bad will happen to me because I am saved" are not just short changing themselves... they are short-circuiting God's plan to get their families ready... and short- circuiting God's plan to get a Bride ready to endure offense in power. Tribulation WILL touch every believer first, and if your expectations of peace and safety are incorrect, you run a great risk of being offended which will drive many Christians to betray one another:
Matthew 24:3, 7-13 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world? ” ... Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Jesus returning means TRUTH is emerging. To believe comforting yet untrue things will, in the end, cause many to be offended. Paul, Peter, John... these guys taught end time often as a way to prevent offense. If you have right expectations, then you can make choices to agree with Jesus' plans to bring change... you can flow with Him instead of flowing against Him. Flowing against Jesus as He returns will actually produce more tribulation in your life. Resisting change that MUST happen only makes your experience of that change worse. Flowing with Jesus will minimize your "feeling" the disruption of the change coming to earth. This is the promise:
Isaiah 27:4-5 Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns Against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of My strength, That he may make peace with Me; And he shall make peace with Me.”
Right now, ignoring the trouble is producing much of the tribulation in the church. It isn’t the ones warning causing division…it is those mocking, or resisting the warning, that are actually producing the division among those loyal to Jesus:
Jude 1:17-25 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Watch. Pray. Be Ready. It is already happening from the inside out…and Jesus told us it would happen THIS way.
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