Hi Saints, I would like to speak about a subject that really has been the driving force behind much of what I have written in the last few years and this piece will be of no surprise to those who have read even a small amount of what I have written. Obviously I am not of the pre-trib rapture position. And that is the last you will hear me mention any such phrases because I believe if we use certain phrases then we simply get pigeon- holed. Enough to say that I would soundly reject the very premise of the Left behind series. We will go through the great tribulation and we will suffer and most of us who are alive at that time will be martyred.
Now, the many positions that Christians take on last days are well documented. I would encourage everyone to read the Scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into the truth. Do not follow men and the teachings of men on these matters. You must be convinced in your spirit of these things that are shortly to come to pass. Now, as one who went to Bible school and who aced his premillennial dispensationalism, class ( should have got the A just for being able to say and spell it) I could certainly give you the historical views of the three main positions and would also be able to tell you about the birth of dispensationalism and the pre-trib-rapture theory. But, I am not going to do that. You can certainly do the research yourself and come to your own conclusions. As I said, ultimately the Holy Spirit has to teach you and lead you and guide you. In this article I am just going to share with you my burden and what I believe is shortly to come to pass. You, of course, are free to agree or to disagree or take what you will and leave the rest.
I believe that persecution is coming to the Church, the Remnant, whoever truly belongs to Jesus. I do not believe that Gods hand will be stayed in this because I believe that He has His purpose and that it is part of the prophetic calendar. So let me lay out for you how I see, the times that are approaching. There is something that we call Christendom. To me, that is everything that calls itself by the name of Christ. This would include every denomination, including Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists, Evangelicals a host of Non-denominational churches and the man in the street who does not go to any church but if you were to push him, he would call himself either a believer or a Christian.
Now let me say plainly, I believe that only a very small percentage of that which calls itself Christian is in fact true born-again, new creatures in Christ, sold out disciples of Jesus. Various men have given numbers over the years, Ravenhill once said that he reckoned only 7% of professing Christians in America were actually Christians. The truth is, I have no idea. I do know that Jesus said that many were called but few were chosen and that the road to heaven was a narrow one and few there were that found it. Thats not so complicated and I see no need to complicate it further by adding to what Jesus said.
And so, how will the persecution come about and who will persecute the saints of God, martyring them and believing they are doing God a favor by doing it? Well, I believe that the vast majority of Christendom that is not saved will soon morph into the great whore church. What is this great whore church? Well it will be a church that will bring together the major religions of the world under one roof. Islam, Judaism and Christianity will join together under a false prophet who will testify to the authenticity of the man of peace, the anti-Christ. Tumultuous circumstances in the world will give rise to this anti-Christ. People of every nation will be mesmerized by him and by his displays of power. Only the saints will not falL for this grand delusion. And as they refuse to follow him they become the targets of hatred of the world in general and specifically the religious.
Now I believe that there will be a direct correlation between the rise of persecution of the pouring out of Gods Spirit upon His people. What will come first I do not know. I lean towards persecution coming first and God pouring His Spirit into His people in order for them to deal with this, yet I also believe that prior to the beginnings of the great tribulation that God will pour out His Spirit upon His people in measure and that this will really be the beginnings of a deep hatred from the religious people. You see, there are many who desire to see a great outpouring of His Spirit but there are few who embrace the cross of Calvary, few who embrace the hard narrow path of the Word of God.
And so who amongst us can embrace a God that has martyrdom in mind for us? Some may see this kind of thinking as some kind of doom and gloom preaching. Yet, the people who I am writing this article too know very well that this is not so. You see, the Bride-groom is coming back for His bride the Church. We know that the time is short. And so we would celebrate the end of the ages because the Lord is coming. We know that we have been walking through a dry and thirsty land, a land in the midst of famine, and whatever it takes for God to pour out His Spirit in power, then the child of God embraces that. If it takes a mighty confrontation on the mountain for the rain to come , then so it must be. If the word has to go out choose ye this day whom you will serve, then that word must go out. If the five virgins without oil must be warned then they must be warned. If there is a generation of saints that are alive at the culmination of the ages and that generation has to be us, then praise the Lord for He knows what He is doing.
Saints, we know that we do not battle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. When those principalities and powers know that their time is short, what would we expect from such a great darkness? If God increases the light in His children, if He pours out His Spirit as in the latter rains, what would we expect the enemy of our souls to do? Sit idly by? No, we know that there is a time coming such as has never been before. The time is coming when every child of God will be hunted down and killed by the anti-Christ. Yet I want you to know that this scenario also includes the filling of saints in such a fashion that they could not even imagine. The power that we will have will be the power to resist the greatest evil that the world has ever seen. We will be filled with a hell-shaking love, the same hell destroying love that we witnessed on Calvary. The same hell shaking love that we saw in our brother Stephen as he was stoned to death.
If you have ever experienced the presence of God, the manifest presence of God then the scenario of being filled with such perfect love that casts out all fear is one that is to be relished. To walk in the power of our Lord, to walk in the Spirit in such a fashion that has yet to be witnessed on the earth, this is a glorious prospect for Gods children. The genuine saint has spent all of his walk with the Lord with an earnest desire to be more like Him. Genuine persecution and refining fire only kills the flesh in us, it does nothing to the Spirit of God in us. And so the more the genuine saint is persecuted, the more of Christ the world will see. As the world comes against us with all of the fury of hell behind it, it will only see a greater expression of Jesus. This is the paradox, the irony, the ultimate weakness of evil, the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
Now brothers and sisters, are we that people? Can you say that the desire of your life is to be more like Jesus and to follow Him? Do you love Him above all else? Are you worthy to be His disciple? Now is the time to have your Gethsemane. The battle of Calvary was won in the garden of Gethsemane. Will you turn back when these things begin to unfold? And so the question bears repeating Who amongst us can embrace a God that has called us to martyrdom? Remember, when it became clear that the Lord Jesus was to become a suffering servant, one who was to be despised by the multitude, rejected, humiliated, tortured and then crucified, how many stood with Him? If you have to face the same things in the coming persecution, will you still stand with Him? Jesus urged His disciples to pray because He knew what was about to come to pass, He Himself prayed and overcame the flesh in the garden before the time came and He found victory in the Garden. He had made up His mind that He would bow to the will of His Father. Can you do the same now saint? Can you make up your mind now that come what may, if events of the end time are not how you supposed them to be or have been taught that they will be, that never-the-less you will bow to the will of your Father and embrace the God that calls you to martyrdom?
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