November 24, 2002
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered everyone that shall be found written in the book (Daniel 12: 1).
Soon after the rapture ,what happens on earth ?. Daniel saw what will happen, how stunned he must have be seeing with his Prophetic telescope the troubles of that time.
" And there shall be a time of trouble , such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time ". He told his bewildered Jewish people. For a people accustomed to trouble.
Daniel 's prophecy must have sounded grave indeed. Such as never was , the history of the nation Israel is pointed with many troubles .Its four hundred years sojourn in Egypt apart. Her travails in the wilderness journey and her several captures and enslavement by other nations apart.
We saw earlier this century alone the massacre of more than six millions Jews Germany and else, where during the second world war . there cannot be a greater trouble ! O yes ! there shall be. Prophet Daniel saw it .Jesus , in is own account speak of that time in clearer details , "for there shall be great tribulation , such as was not since the beginning of the up to this time. And except those days were shortened, there should be no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days were shortened".(Matthew 24:21;22).
What Jesus talks about is as terrible enough that those to survive the troubles would be by the skin of the skin. Jeremiah say thus" Ask ye now and see whether a man travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and faces that turned into paleness? Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but it shall be saved out of it".( Jeremiah 30: 6,7).
The certainly of the great tribulation and its impact is not in question, now is Jeremiah ambiguous on those that shall be saved out of the it " the Jews, it is of course ,the greater number of them have not believed and not be till the Rapture, and so shall not be raptured.
The devastation and its effects especially on Israel during the great tribulation would be so great that only a remnant would be saved. Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved". Romans 9:27.
It shall be a time of real suffering for the Jews. In Zephaniah's words; neither shall the silver nor their gold be able to deliver in the day of the lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured with fire of his jealousy; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land"(Zephaniah 1:18).
Just what specific things should be expected in the great tribulation? Some examples:
- and I beheld when he opened the sixth zeal, and, Lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as the fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she shaking of a mighty wind; and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every
mountain and island went moved out of their places. And the Kings of the earth, and the Great men, and the Rich men, and the chief Captains, and the mighty men, and every bondmen and every freemen, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks and in the mountains; And said to the rocks of the mountain fall on us, and hid us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb: for the great day of his wrath has come; and who shall be able to stand?". (Revelation 6:12-17).
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Many have road these lines before but choose to indulge themselves in a willing delusive. They brush the word of God aside exclaiming, it won't happen, and it can't happen. The error in such attitudes is not only self- evidence, but those who say such things choose not to remember that this is God's own programme for a rebellious world. He is not to be known the one to stop God from doing his pleasure after exhausting his patience in his long call to all men to repent of sin and embrace Jesus Christ.
God's begotten son offered for man's salvation. " And the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven into the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit; as the smoke of great furnace and the sun and the air was darkened by the reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locust upon the face of the earth and unto them that were given power as the scorpion have the power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any toe; but only those men which have not the zeal of God in their foreheads. and to them it was given that they should not kill them, but they should be tormented five months and their torment was as the torments of scorpion, when stricketh a man and in those days shall men seek death and they shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them ( Revelation 9:1-6).
Being their during the great tribulation should not be your contemplation. Knowing the opportunity is open to everyone to make the rapture, your should be JESUS. " the lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world". The promise is for every one who come to Jesus to be saved: for indeed He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me".(John14:6). And His promise to all who come to him is "I will in wise cast him or her out". None for race, for social status, economic equipage or educational qualification would be rejected. In fact, none would be rejected on account of past misdeeds no mater how terrible if they repent; for the inexhaustible mercy and pardon of God is assumed to all who believe by repentance and faith come to God.
" come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord! Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool". (Isaiah 1:18).
The step of coming to God taken by faith is mandatory fall that must escape the inevitable judgement of God on the ungodly at the great tribulation. It is important to stress that passive acceptance of the word of God as true without deliberate repentance from all sin. sins must be repented of, for " he that covereth in sin shall not prosper , but whoso confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy". (proverb 28:13).we have definite assurance that God will hear when a longing heart seeks him in prayer to do his will. " seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and unto our God, for he will abundantly pardon".(Isaiah 55:6,7).for " as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked should turn from his way and live...(Ezekiel 33:11).
All who come to God by repentance are sure of new life from sin. You take that simple step 2, faith and you have the host of heaven at your service. " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you (Ezekiel 36:25).
In the face of the world's present moral faith, many who are on their own have tried to be free from sin and have found it impossible, should find consolation in the promise of God. NOTE, though that, God is not about to trample and disregard your prerogative for self determination. He will not save you until you ask Him to. The seriousness of your request salvation would be expressed only by your strong resolve to repent of sin, and to determine never to return to it. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness "(I John1:9).
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God".(II Corinthians 7:1).
The call unto salvation to the sinner is similar to God's call unto holiness and righteousness for the believer. Our wait for God's full redemption at the rapture is similar to Christ's wait for the joy that was set for him beyond the cross. For him, the ultimate prize did not come until those final words, "it is finished". The glitter of the final prize never left his constant gaze as he beheld the father from whom he looked for the fulfilment of God's promises to save him as foretold by his holy Prophets, the same too should be for us."
Seeing we also are compressed about with so cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for that joy that was set before him that endureth the cross, despising the shame, and his set down at the right hand of the throne of God, for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds,( Hebrews12:1-3).The battle to escape, the great tribulation should be all believers business for his own benefit, and, for others benefit, he must ceaselessly preach the gospel.
God's only power to save the lost. If all we have read already and were all about the tribulation, even that should sink the sin-sick soul. But God is not done with sinful man yet. " And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and their fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the man which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image". (Revelation 16:1,2).
Full discussion on the person of the antichrist, the false prophets and the beast should come in another book. Surprise it now that as the great tribulation, the antichrist shall enforce a law that no one may buy or sell without a mark -666- which the beast shall give to everyone as a mark of allegiance to the antichrist.
Now, what happens when someone receives the mark of the beast? That mark seals the doom of the receiver forever.
"And the third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb". (Revelation 14 :9,10).
The believers who for their unwatchful ness, carelessness and levity about total holiness of life were not raptured, having by now awaken from their spiritual slumber shall first to take the mark of the beast knowing the eternal consequence, and for their brazen though late stand, for God, the antichrist will torture and kill them. These though shall be scared at last if they hold fast their profession of faith in God to the end, shall however have missed the blessed bema seat of Christ.
The great tribulation shall be for seven years. It shall be a period of great indignation, trepidation and desolation; a time of severe punishment the suffering of which shall be so difficult to bear. What either references to the great tribulation do we have in the bible?
They cut crossed the old and the new testaments. " And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all Nations shall flow into it. And shall go in the holes of the rocks, and into the cares of the earth, for of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth"(Isaiah2: 2,19).
" Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth
it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitant thereof.... (Isaiah 24:1,3,6). You could read the following references: Isaiah 26:20,21; Joel 2:1,2; Zephaniah 1:14,15,and I Thessalonians 5:3.
The great tribulation is that bad. Is some preacher undermining the sincerity of God ? we all have a choice to either believe God or man. When should we pray to certify our safety from the great tribulation? Are we to want till the trumpet of God is about to sound? When is," about to sound ", watch yet therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the son of man" (Luke 21:36). Jesus spoke these words not for want of something to say. He is the eternal word of God who has been with the father before the foundation of the world was laid. He knew the mind and programme of God for the world and knew that the heaven and earth pass, one fit or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18).
Given that you have understand this topic of discussion and your heart cry to God is for this mercy and should from the universal calamity to come. What should you do?
- Be sure you have a definite experience of salvation, not publicity salvation which many profess with a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof". (II Timothy 3:5). Yours should be salvation that guarantees total freedom from all sin- whether inward in your hidden thoughts, or outside in your appearance, words or deeds.
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Walk in spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of your flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would"(Galatians5: 16'17).
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Obtain and maintain a pure heart." And every man that hath this hope in him (the hope of the rapture), purifies himself, even as he Christ is pure "(I JOHN3: 3), It is holiness in recesses of the heart that enable the believers to be obedient to God in all things
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Resist every insinuation, pressure or tendencies to compromise your knowledge of the righteous standard of God's word. Earnestly contend for the faith (by righteous living) which was once deliver unto the saints"(Jude3).
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Endure hardness (trials, persecution), as a good soldier of Jesus Christ "(II Timothy 2:3). In any case, you have little or no choice at all, for if you cannot bear the trials of your faith in Christ today, how would you bear the torments of the great tribulation.
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Set your affections on things above, not the things on the earth," always looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and your savior Jesus Christ ", (Colossians 3:2, Titus 2:13).
Your constant expatiation holds your gaze steady on the skies; for who knows, it might be tonight when the darkness of the night shall blaze forth with light of his coming; who knows, the trumpet of God might sound in the day, when the world, numbered by the din of its damnable preoccupation, the trump of God shall not hear. No careless moment should dim your eyes from seeing his appearing or deafen your ears from hearing the trumpet sound.
Watch for the sky bound moment. Rid yourself of every sin. We are about to
go home.
For more help, write or contact any Deeper Life Bible Church near you or email me garbater@hotmail.com
Guides
The Great Tribulation