If
you are like me, what is going on in our country is ugly, shameful, and evil. Corruption, like cancer, has metastasized throughout our culture by a systemic collection of
brazen lies, blatant hypocrisies, and alarming and prevalent injustices across
the board. As a believer, this is very concerning and a heartbreaker.
Notwithstanding,
as believers, we should never allow the unfavorable circumstances of life to
break our spirit in faithful service to our Lord God! Why? Because Yahweh, as
the Creator of heaven and earth, has the sovereign right and the ultimate
authority to do or allow whatever He so desires; and those desires follow a
Romans 8:28 path for us who believe! Therefore, nothing enters our lives as
believers unless permission is granted by God.
This
is not casting blame on the Holy One if we experience suffering for
righteousness or for disobedience; it is a theological truth! Yahweh has
already proved that He loves us (Rom 5:8) and will continue to do so, even if
we are obedient or disobedient (Rom 8:38,39). The comforting truth is that it
is impossible for the adversary to circumvent or overstep the will of the
Almighty in any matter at any time! Satan, unlike his Creator, is not omnipotent
or all-powerful. Speaking for myself, I trust the decision-making of Yahweh
(cf. Job 13:15a), and so should you, yes?
The
wickedness we are witnessing in America should not come as any surprise to any
believer who understands the Scriptures correctly. The enemies of the cross are
being manifested to all! History is not silent nor is Jesus that a house
divided will fall (cf. the principle taken from the ludicrous argument that
Satan casts out his own demons (cf. Lk 11:17).
We
acutely feel the pain of being in the world of darkness but not of it, right? At
times it feels as if there is an attempt to paint over our Christian worldview
with black paint? The enemy may attempt to rewrite history, change the meaning
of words, threaten with hostility and censure, but destroying Christianity in North
America is the endgame of the enemies of Christ. Behind all of this ruckus in the
U.S. is a signature of the global spiritual warfare that has been unrelenting since the fall of Adam.
Darkness
is everywhere running throughout the land as if seemingly unchecked! We may ask these
questions to the Creator God, “God are you there? Do You not see what is
happening? Why are You allowing this to happen?” The answer is “Yes,” “Yes,” and “You know why!”
We are heading for the consummation of all things! Nobody can gather from the Scriptures that this was going to be pretty.
Unlike
us, God does not waste His “time.” Everything He does has a purpose and possesses
the quality of eternity (Eccl 3:14; cf. 1 Cor 15:58). I subscribe to the rapture
taking place prior to the tribulation period. This view espouses that the next
great eschatological event on earth will be the rapture of the Church or the
imminent return of Jesus for His Church, and subsequent to that is the genesis of
the seven years of tribulation on earth. You want to talk about real ugly, read Mt
24:21-22; Mk 13:19!
It
makes sense that the world is ramping up for the appearance of the anti-christ. America is already in the throes of morphing into
something very evil by trading historical blood-bought liberty for a false security
in the present tense. Call it socialism, communism, reimagining, going green in America, or whatever you want; it is evil, and it is anti-Christ in nature. The world may not think of it quite in those terms, but that is exactly what the servants of
Satan are doing wittingly or unwittingly.
Naturally,
according to the deconstructionists of a nation, I am a “racist” for saying
such things! Imagine that? Would a “racist” want all peoples of the earth, regardless
of race, color, or creed, to place their trust in Yahweh by repenting of their
sins and confessing Him before others, and enjoying Him forever in glory?
No,
but I am accused of being a “racist” like my brothers and sisters in Christ
because I do not submit to the narrative of the enemies of Jesus Christ! Jesus
died for all men so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life (cf.
Jn 3:16). This is what I desire for my enemies – eternal life with Christ. Lies
and deceptions are the earmarks of something satanic (Jn 8:44). Holiness and truth
are the earmarks of God (cf. 1 Pet 1:16; Titus 1:2)!
Are we heading towards a Noah-like world prior to the global flood? Yes. We may get
a foretaste of that wickedness prior to the rapture; for it would be
spiritually naïve for us to think there will not be some turbulence for Christians
living prior to the rapture. The world is swiftly transitioning toward a one-world government that opposes Jesus Christ and everyone and anything related to Him
at every turn. After the rapture event, everything goes south during the trib period. And that brings us to Noah.
What
separated Noah, who was a just man, perfect in his generations, and his family
from that antediluvian world was faith (Heb 11:7). Once the faithful witness is
removed (aboard the ark), the water of judgment drops on a clueless world (cf. Gn
6:5; Mt 24:38)!
All
of this upside downness in America currently could be a ramp leading to the inevitable
storm of seven years of tribulation coming to the earth, but we cannot be
dogmatic about that. The Scripture directs us to be spiritually prepared and be
looking for His appearing at any moment!
The doctrine of the imminent return of Christ is not meant to be a guessing game of
predicting the future. Someone once commented, “If we knew the day, the hour,
and the minute of the rapture, we would sin ourselves silly before it happened!”
Do you recall the words of Jesus concerning the undisclosed day and hour of His Second Advent (Mt
24:36, physically touching the earth)?
(Mat
24:37) But
as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
(Mat
24:38) For
as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
(Mat
24:39) and
did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be.
This
passage of Scripture is linked with Christ’s return or Second Advent and the rapture into
hell for all of those living at the end of the seven years of tribulation who have
not been spiritually regenerated. The tribulation period comes to a close after
this rapture into hell takes place (cf. Mt 24:40-41) on the eve of the millennial
reign of Christ, all males and females left upon the earth will belong to the
Lord; all are saved who remain and not taken in the second rapture of the lost.
Only believers will be physically entering into the millennium to populate the kingdom
of Christ.
In
retrospect, after the first rapture of the saved (1 Thes 4:16-17), all of those
remaining on earth are lost! Nonetheless, after the conclusion of seven years
of terrible tribulation on earth, Christ is coming to reign for the next 1000
years. Satan and his troops are bound in hell during the millennial reign (cf.
Rev 20:2, 3). For years, I linked the rapture of the Church as the first phase
of Christ’s Second Advent; the second phase was the Church returning with Jesus
and the angels to earth to reign for a thousand years.
To
avoid confusion and ambiguity, I shifted my thinking from treating the rapture
as a phase of the Second Coming to treating the Rapture of the Church as parenthetical
between the two Advents: the First Advent (born of a virgin, to die) and the Second
Advent (coming in power to reign). What these two advents share in common is that
Jesus Christ is physically on the earth. With the rapture, Jesus does not physically
touch down on earth but remains in the clouds and summons for His Church. We
meet with Him in the clouds and head to glory (1 Thes 4:17).
So, I no longer conflate the Rapture
as a phase of the Second Advent. Too often you will hear from the pulpits or podiums the unfortunate mixing of Second Coming verses with the Rapture or vice versa.
Is it any wonder God’s people become so confused when it comes to end-time
events? I hope this clears up some of that confusion for you.
Now,
in the tribulation period, the days of Noah are in full swing! Jesus warned in
Mt 24:42,
Watch
therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
This
verse is pertaining to the Second Advent; it does not have reference to the Rapture
of the Church which happened ~seven years prior! It is unknown of the precise
hour or minute, but prior to our arrival to earth with Jesus during the Second
Advent, the rapture of the unsaved takes place (Mt 24:40-41) as quickly as the
twinkling of an eye was for the believers (cf. 1 Cor 15:52), which is a natural assumption.
When
Jesus and His Church return to earth to rule, the only inhabitants on the
planet are the saints that survived the hellish tribulation period. The angels
of heaven will be in attendance during the Second Advent. All of the lost,
including Satan and his horde, are in an inescapable holding tank called Hades for a thousand smackers (Rev 20:2)!
Keep
in mind, as you see the instability and unrest in America unfolding and worsening,
supporting this degrading is the spirit of the antichrist. The same spirit of antichrist that was
working in Noah’s day,
Then
the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gn 6:5).
America
is joining up with that evil spirit along with the other nations of the world
and heading full steam on a course to experiencing some of the darkest of times
on planet earth to come in the infamous Tribulation Period.
Thank
God that the Church will not experience the wrath of God and therefore will be spared the trib period (1 Thes 5:9)! In Noah’s day, there were only eight people who made it out of the antediluvian
(before the flood) civilization alive (2 Pet 2:5); thankfully, there will be an innumerable
contingent of saints coming out of the Tribulation period to see Jesus, the
Church, and His holy angels coming back to the earth to set up His kingdom! Can
we safely say more than eight will be saved? Yes, we can (cf. Rev 7:9)! Praise God!!
Now,
this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Church is going to slip out of here via
the rapture unscathed; there could be some bruising, battering, and even martyrdom
before the next eschatological event takes place! The world-system today will
become more increasingly “direct, dramatic, and drastic” in its handling of
Christians. How far that goes before the rapture of the Church only God knows. As
our nation keeps slipping and sliding further away from Yahweh to a nation
whose God is not the LORD (cf. Ps 33:12a, applicational of all nations,
not just Israel), I think of what Paul told Timothy,
Yes,
and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
I
do not dwell on persecution, per se, but it is already here and will only get
worse as our constitutional rights are taking away, and this evil permeates throughout America
that was, ironically, founded on Judeo-Christian values! I have enough evidence
against me on the internet to convict me as a Christian. Is there enough evidence in your life to convict you of being a believer in Christ? So, what should we do henceforth?
The
rapture of the church could happen at any moment. Since it is the next big eschatological
event in history, you and I should stay spiritually ready for that imminent event
(cf. 1 Jn 3:2-3), fear God, and keep His commandments (Eccl 12:13-14). With that said, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the
rapture may not happen in our lifetime as well! There is no prophecy or revival
preventing the rapture from taking place in our lifetime nor after. I kind of
prefer for the translation to take place in my lifetime! What about you?
Paul
looked for the rapture in his day; He was possibly martyred under the direction
of the anti-Christian emperor, Nero (A.D. 54-68), who had a particular fondness
for persecuting believers of the Way. Being a Roman citizen, Paul was traditionally
believed to have experienced death by decapitation in Rome rather than being
crucified.
~2,000
years later, do you believe that Jesus is coming for His Church? He said that
He was (cf. Jn 14:3; 1 Thes 4:16-17; 1 Cor 15:52). With all of this agitation
and aggravation of America going on these days, I advise we follow Paul’s lead,
looking for Jesus even unto death. Why? Again, because Jesus is coming for His
Church; He promised, and He never fails to fulfill His promises (cf. Lk 24:44; 2
Cor 1:20; 2 Pet 1:2-4; 2 Pet 3:9; 1 Jn 2:25).
You know; I
wonder if Satan put a bug in Paul’s ear just prior to him being beheaded, “Hey
Paul, you missed the rapture!” I think if that happened, I wouldn’t doubt that
he may have replied to his/our adversary,
“I am confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord! By the way, enjoy the lake of fire for eternity” (cf. 2 Cor 5:8)!
Brothers and sisters, we can ill afford not to be looking
for Jesus even unto death, because the rapture could take place at
any moment! <><
