Are You Taking Care of Business?

“Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. “So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’”  Luke 19:12-13  NKJV

“Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”  Luke 12:43  NKJV

Back when I was in college I spent much of my summer months taking road trips around the western United States simply as a way to enjoy my time off of school and to see parts of the country I had never seen.  One of my favorite music groups to drive to was called Bachman Turner Overdrive, or simply BTO.  They had one song which was usually pretty good for getting a speeding ticket or at least a warning and it was called “Taking Care of Business”.  While the music often distracted me from concentrating on the business of driving, this past week I could not help but wonder if all that has gone on since the start of this year has possibly caused many in the body to be distracted from doing our Father’s business.

The optimism surrounding the success we have seen from the current administration, while seemingly justified, has caused many to question if the body of Christ is losing focus towards our responsibility to the cause of Christ.  The strong desire to return to what many would consider normal is certainly understandable yet it also reminds me of the warning Jesus gave about the “days of Noah” where He described the world’s life at that time as being what those people considered to be normal.  

I will be the first to admit that it has, at times, been more of a challenge to focus on doing the work God has entrusted me with than in the past.  Like many of you,  the reality of the past four or five years certainly caused me to wonder if life would ever be the same again. Yet as we all know, believers were never promised a life free from struggle and in spite of our difficulties, we see in todays passage that our Father expects us to make His business our priority whether the times we live in are good or bad. 

In the passage from Luke, the phrase “do business” is also translated “occupy”.  I want to share an excerpt with you today from an article by Jack Kelley on this passage which I hope you will find encouraging, especially as a great many of us believe we are so close to going home.

 

No One Knows the Day or Hour

Most people have no idea that the Lord only spoke this phrase in reference to the 2^nd Coming, never the rapture. Even so, no one knows exactly when the rapture will happen. But the Bible gives us a number of signs as to when the end of the age will arrive, and tells us the rapture will precede it. And for the first time in history, every one of those signs is visible today.

Paul said the coming Day of the Lord should not take us by surprise because we’re children of the light (1 Thes. 5:4-5). That means we’ve been given all the information (light) we need to know the times and seasons of His Coming. The only people who can be taken by surprise are those have not made themselves familiar with end times prophecy, whether by accident or design.  In other words, those who say we can’t know the nearness of the rapture simply haven’t made an effort to inform themselves.

Read what the Lord said to the generation that wasn’t expecting Him the first time He came.

“When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:2-3).

It was not that they couldn’t have known He was coming, because their Scriptures contained hundreds of prophecies of His first coming, many of which pointed to their time. It was that His coming had become less important to them than knowing what the day’s weather would be, so they didn’t bother learning about it. He could say the same thing to much of the Church today.

Some scholars are calling what’s happening in our time the convergence of signs. That means we don’t just have a few signs showing up, which would be exciting enough. It means that all the signs we were told to look for can now be found and they are all converging on a point in our not too distant future. No generation since His first coming could say this.

Does This Mean I Can’t Have A Life Of My Own?

Truth be told, the Bible never promised us a life of our own. In fact it says, “We are not our own. We’ve been bought at a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). But God never forces any of His children to do anything. The single condition for our salvation is to “believe in the One He sent” (John 6:28-29). So you can have a life of your own. If all you want is to have your “fire insurance” policy paid up, you did that by becoming a believer (Ephes. 1:13-14). Even if you never do a single thing for the Lord and all your works are burned up in the fires of judgment, you yourself will still be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Cor. 3:15).

In Romans 12:1 Paul said, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy …” He didn’t order or command us, he urged us. Even the Holy Spirit is only our counselor, not our commander. No one will force you to do anything.

Instead, what this means is you can have a better life than the one you’ve planned for yourself. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). In the first place, when you turn your life over to the Lord, He will see to it that all your needs are met, so you won’t have to worry at all about what tomorrow might bring (Matt 6:31-34). He will see that everything works together for your good (Romans 8:28). He will give back to you all out of proportion to what you give to Him (Luke 6:38). He will make you rich in every way so you can be generous on every occasion (2 Cor. 9:11), and you’ll be storing up untold treasure in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21) as well.

So you see, neither camping on a hilltop and waiting nor getting on with life while waiting is the Biblically correct approach. To occupy till He comes is to be engaged in the conduct of the business He has called us to.

Final Thoughts

In closing, I’m reminded of my favorite paraphrase of James 2:17 where the apostle wrote, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by deeds is dead.” The version I like goes, “If what you say you believe does not result in action, maybe you don’t really believe it.” If you’re not longing for the rapture and engaged in the Lord’s work while you wait for it, then maybe you don’t really believe it’s coming soon.

When viewed from a strictly human perspective, the rapture of the Church is the most incredible event in history. The resurrection of believers is the fulfillment of a promise that was made on the cross, the delivery of the greatest blessing ever given to mankind. And among resurrected believers, no other group has been or will be blessed as richly as the Church. Paul said God is doing this so that in ages yet to come He might demonstrate the incomparable riches of His Grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Ephes. 2:7).

But even above all this, He has chosen one generation of the Church to pass directly from mortal to immortal without experiencing death. This generation will be standing on Earth in our mortal, sin filled bodies and then in the twinkling of an eye we’ll be transformed directly into a perfect, immortal version of ourselves.  Immediately, we’ll be transported to the home He has spent the last 2,000 years preparing for us to begin a life with Him that is literally beyond imagining. And it could happen any day now.

But what if it doesn’t happen today? I was a business consultant when I became a believer 30 years ago. One of the services I provided was to help individuals and companies identify and achieve long term goals. Following my own example, I had binders full of five year plans for myself and my company which I faithfully tracked each month and completely updated annually.

I had learned about the rapture early in my life as a believer and, like most people, I was immediately excited about it. When I felt the Lord telling me to put my plans for my life aside and follow the path He had laid out for me instead, I thought, “Why not? We won’t be here that long anyway.” I decided to stop making my own plans for the future, and began letting Him implement His plan instead. Later I realized that this is what He meant in Matt. 16:24-25.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

That was 30 years ago, and I haven’t made any future plans for me or anyone else since. The life I have today is nothing like the one I had planned for myself. But it’s more exciting and more fulfilling than anything I could have imagined. I still see the rapture as an “any day now” event and I’m ready to go the instant I hear the trumpet. But I also realize that if that doesn’t happen today, the plan the Lord is unfolding in my life is the next best thing that could have happened to me, because I’m occupying until He comes. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah 02-21-15.

https://gracethrufaith.com/end-times-prophecy/occupy-come/

As optimistic as many are currently feeling, my prayer is that as a body we can put our desires for this life in their rightful place behind taking care of God's business until He calls us home.  Anyone who has listened to God's call and accepted His gift of eternal life has a mission in this life.  We have a responsibility to do His business by seeking His plan for our lives and then doing whatever it is that He requires of us.  If you have never made the decision to accept the free gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven I encourage you to do so today.  Simply ask God to forgive you of your sin based on your belief that Jesus died to pay the price for your sin, and turn over control of your life to Him.  You can do that right now by praying a prayer just like this one;

Dear Father in heaven, I believe in your son Jesus. I believe that He died on the cross for my sins, that He rose up from the grave, and that my sins are forgiven.  Forgive me of my sin, help me to walk with you, and thank you for saving me. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Typology and the Rapture

“So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”   Genesis 5:23-24  NKJV

“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, “to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”  Jude 1:14-15  NKJV

“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”  Hebrews 11:5  NKJV

The subject of typology is something I personally am convinced is a wonderful tool in studying scripture. Typology is the term used to describe the study of past events as a picture revealing the truth of a future event.  In essence what this means is that many of the events in the Old Testament were actually pictures of what was to occur in the future.  Many scholars see the rapture of Enoch, which occurred just before the flood of Noah, as a type or pattern of the rapture of the Church, which will also happen just before the start of the final period of God’s judgment of an unbelieving world.  

Other examples would be the story of Abraham being told to sacrifice his only son Isaac, and God providing a lamb as a substitute. Or Joseph, sent by his father to visit his brothers and being “killed” in a sense by his imprisonment in Egypt only to reappear as second only to Pharaoh as ruler in Egypt. Also, there is Jonah, being thrown overboard allowing the others to survive while he suffers the punishment of God's wrath in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. There are many more, but hopefully these are enough for you to begin to see what is meant by the study of typology.

Many believers are aware that Enoch was the first person to experience what is described as a “rapture” event because he never died, but rather was taken by God into His presence before he could “see death”.  Yet I believe many are unaware of exactly why God chose to do that for him, or what it was that made Enoch deserving of such a reward.  If you look closely at what is written about Enoch in the passage from Jude, I believe it becomes quite clear why God viewed Enoch as deserving of being raptured and how it was that Enoch “pleased God”.  Simply put, Enoch pleased God and was rewarded by being raptured because he prophesied about the Second Coming!

Many scholars see the rapture of Enoch, which occurred just before the flood of Noah, as a type or pattern of the rapture of the Church, which will also happen just before the start of the final period of God’s judgment of an unbelieving world.  If this is the case, I would also like to suggest there might be more to the story of Enoch that we might find interesting, especially as it might relate to the rapture of the Church.

The passage from Jude tells us that Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam, a fact that we could discern from the genealogy given in the book of Genesis.  Yet Jude makes a point to mention it when he talks about Enoch and that makes me wonder why?  We know that the number seven in scripture means perfection in regards to completeness, so is it significant the Enoch was the seventh from Adam?  If we view Enoch as a type or pattern in relation to the Church, is it also significant that the book of Revelation lists seven church types, and many now believe we are living in the last or seventh type?

Of course, if that were not enough, there is also something else we can consider about Enoch and his rapture.  There is a Jewish rabbinical tradition that Enoch was not only born on the sixth of Sivan, but was taken on his birthday as well.  Why might that be significant, especially in light of the Church?  Simply because the sixth of Sivan is also the date of the Feast of Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit was given to the Church, and also the day many consider to be the birthday of the Church.  

Pentecost is the fourth of Israel’s seven feast days, and generally occurs in our month of May or June.  This year it will be celebrated in Israel at sunset on June 1st, and many are wondering if this just might be a good time to be watching, especially considering all that we see going on in the world today.  By now I am sure you know I am not in the habit of selecting dates, or making predictions about when the rapture will occur, yet I certainly believe we are about as close as we can get to that blessed event without actually hearing the trumpet sound.

The relationship between the Church and Jesus has often been described as a relationship between a bride and her groom. If we consider that picture, and apply the study of typology, what we then could do is look for stories of weddings in the Old Testament and examine them closely to see if there might be an application to the future wedding of Jesus to His bride, the Church. Using that perspective, the story many have found most applicable is the one we find revealed in the book of Ruth.  Many believe that the story it tells, especially in light of typology and the Church, reveals some amazing truths that say much about our future, and quite possibly even the timing of the wedding.

Why is that?  Consider just a few of pictures we find in this little book.  Naomi, (as a picture of the nation Israel), Ruth, (as a picture of a Gentile bride, the Church), and Boaz, (the kinsman redeemer who restores Naomi’s land and then marries Ruth the Gentile bride).  If we look closer at the wedding between Boaz and Ruth, many believe we can also discover clues concerning the future rapture of the Church.  The wedding occurs after the harvest season, specifically the wheat harvest, which in Israel would usually be at the very beginning of summer.

“So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.”  Ruth 2:23  NKJV

It by now should come as no surprise that coincidently, in Israel, it is believed and taught that this wedding occurred on the sixth of Sivan as well.  It is also a Jewish tradition that the book of Ruth be read on the Feast of Shavuot, the sixth of Sivan, as they stay up all night.  Is it any coincidence that the Church is admonished to wait and watch, using illustrations like the “thief in the night”?

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”  Acts 2:1-4  NKJV

Looking at Enoch as a type of the rapture, is it possible the Church could be raptured, taken to Heaven as a bride for her wedding, and the Holy Spirit (restrainer) removed on its birthday, the Feast of Pentecost, just as Enoch was?  Whether or not this proves to be true, the book of Ruth is not only a wonderful love story but also beautiful picture of Jesus redeeming His Gentile bride, the Church.  He is our kinsman redeemer who chose to give His own life as a sacrifice to pay for our sins. 

There is, however, one fact that bears mention in the case of the story of Enoch. I believe there is a very important point that many miss when considering the typology between Enoch’s rapture and the rapture of the Church.  By studying the account it becomes readily apparent that God chose to take him home quite some time before the flood actually occured. This could be the best news of all that we as believers could hope for as we see the preparations for the coming tribulation period happening at an ever increasing rate.  As Chuck Missler was fond of saying, when you see the Christmas decorations going up you know Thanksgiving is near.

Considering all of this, it would seem apparent that the window of opportunity for mankind to make a decision on its eternal destiny is closing rapidly.  If you have never accepted the gift of eternal life offered to all by God the Father, I urge you to do it today. Jesus paid the price for His bride, and the Church could disappear at any time.  Simply pray this prayer or put it in your own words but tell God you believe He sent His Son to pay the price for your sin, and that you will turn control of your life to Him.

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen."

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Inexcusable

“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.”   Romans2:1-2  NKJV

Of the many topics the apostle Paul covers in the book of Romans, the most often quoted is sure to be on the subject of judging. While I am sure we have all heard or been accused at one time or another of judging someone else, it seems all too common lately as our society has moved in the direction of requiring people to agree with ideas whether we want to or not, and woe to those believers who disagree with the positions espoused by unbelievers.  One only has to read the news to see that virtually every week there are at least one or two articles covering an incident of violence towards those with conservative biblical views.

Unfortunately, I believe the accusation of judging is a result of misunderstanding the very definition and nature of the word.  I often use the analogy of being stopped by an officer of the law after being observed to violate any of the many laws which govern our society. The officer is not “judging” me by pointing out my violation, but rather telling me he observed me breaking the law.  The truth is, it is the judge in the courtroom who passes the sentence for my violation and does the “judging”.

Judging someone else is an action.  It is choosing to punish, in one way or another, someone else who we feel deserves it for their beliefs or actions.  In the body, it should go without saying that attempting to judge another is usurping the responsibility of God the Father, who makes it very clear in many different places in the Word that He alone will judge.  It also should be clearly evident that none of us has any right to judge another as we all have sinned and will continue to do so until that time we are transformed from this body of sin and the sin nature that comes with it.  In fact, there is a word Jesus used to describe those who judge, which most of us would find patently offensive, and that is the word hypocrite. 

I’m sure most, if not all of us, would be very offended if someone were to call us a hypocrite, yet that is what Jesus often called those Pharisees and religious leaders who wanted to use their religion to judge others.  In Romans chapter 2, Paul explains God’s judgment, and shows us at least four of the mistakes hypocrites make when they attempt to judge others. 

They blame.  Hypocrites choose to point the finger at someone else without knowing the whole story.  It is making an accusation without knowledge of the whole story.  The reason God reserves the right to judge is He is the only one who knows the heart, and the motive behind the action.  Hypocrites are quick to blame, and as a result are most often wrong.  In verse two Paul tells us God’s judgment is “according to truth,” based on His knowledge of all the facts, as opposed to our ignorance of them.

“And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?”  Romans 2:3  NKJV

They are brash.  Hypocrites are self-righteous because they underestimate God’s perfection and overestimate their own.  They attempt to sit as a judge of others without the realization they are standing in front of the real judge, God the Father.  As verse three tells us, those who choose to do that will themselves be judged.

“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”          Romans 2:4  NKJV

They are bitter.  Bitterness is a result of thinking God will not fulfill His responsibility.  Hypocrites “despise” “God’s goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering,”.  Hypocrites want to see judgment occur immediately, and fail to take into account the patience of God’s love for us as sinners.  What they perceive to be leniency is simply God’s everlasting patience.  This, however, offends their desire to see action in the form of punishment and their impatience causes them to become bitter.

“But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”   Romans 2:5  NKJV

They are blind.  Hypocrites have no problem seeing other people’s sin, but seem to have no idea of their own.  “Hardness” and “impenitent” can be described as stubborn and unrepentant.  The hard heart will lead to deafness of God’s Word, and the lack of repentance shows blindness to their own condition. 

  

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”    Romans 12:9-19  NKJV

I find it revealing that Paul ends his treatise on God’s judgment by telling us as believers just how we are to live in relation to those who we might feel have offended us.  Having the desire to see deserved judgment applied is a normal reaction for those who desire to live a righteous life.  While we as believers are being singled out for hate because of our beliefs, we must resist the temptation to act against those who persecute.  We must never let that desire cause us to cross the lines of responsibility and try to take matters into our own hands by punishing someone else for perceived offenses.  It is God’s place to judge, and He reserves that task for Himself.  

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth for the sole purpose of sacrificing Himself so we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven.  I believe the persecution many believers are experiencing right now is one of the signs of His imminent return, as we witness the attacks by Satan increasing. If you have never taken the step of accepting this gift of eternal life, I urge you to do it right now.  Simply pray a prayer like this one and confess to God your need for salvation, and accept the gift He provided for you by the death and resurrection of His own Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus I know I am a sinner. I have sinned against you, but I know you loved me enough to send your Son, Jesus Christ to die for my sins and then rise from the dead so that I may live forever with You. Lord forgive me of my sins and come into my life and help me to begin to live for You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Getting What They Want

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”  Romans 11:25  NKJV

If we were to attempt to describe the direction our country, and the world as well, has decided to move in the past few years an adjective used more and more lately is the word “divisive”.  Unfortunately for us as a society, it seems to have escaped notice that one of the world’s oldest strategies for achieving victory in any conflict is “divide and conquer”.  While many might argue the point, it seems perfectly obvious to me that the author of the divisiveness running rampant in our country today is none other than Satan, and his agenda is succeeding spectacularly.

There will be those who would call this an oversimplification, but if we choose to accept that this fight is spiritual in nature it follows that there exists only two sides; believers and non-believers, or us and them.  That said, how often have you heard an argument lately where someone uses the pronoun “they”?  Most often, it seems, I hear it used such as “they” want us to do this, or “they” want us to believe such and such.  Of course, let’s not forget the most common usage; “they want to control us”!  While I will leave the identification of who “they” are to you, for the purpose of this discussion we will simply consider that there exists only the two sides mentioned above, and I think the Bible makes it clear that eventually, “they” get what “they” want. 

“When does that happen” you ask?  As believers, I think most would agree that it occurs after the rapture of the Church, when all true believers in Jesus Christ are instantaneously removed from this earth to meet with the Lord in the air and go to live with Him for all of eternity.  As revealed by Paul in the passage above, that event occurs when the full number of believers is arrived at, and the Church in God’s eyes is complete.  At that point in time, the Church is taken, the “restrainer” or Holy Spirit is removed as well, and “they” are left behind to experience the world they have always wanted.

“When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.”  Revelation 6:3-4  NKJV

Utopia: an ideal place or state, or an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.

Dystopia: a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.

It might sound odd, but at that instant in time, we who believe will get what we have been longing for, and those left behind get what they want.  The problem though, is that while believers are rewarded with indescribable riches and eternal happiness with our Lord and Jesus Christ, instead of the utopia they expect, the left behind unbelieving population are rewarded with a dystopian world of unimaginable sorrow.  While they ignore, if not outright disbelieve what the Bible has to say about what happens on this earth after the rapture, the picture God paints of life when they get what they want is one which no one in their right mind would want to be a part of.

According to the passage above, the very first result of the rapture is that peace is removed and violence of almost unimaginable severity begins to occur.  Although it will most likely come as a shock to them, rather than rejoicing that believers have somehow disappeared and the world they have dreamed about arrives, they begin to kill each other off.  Having observed the move towards using violence as a means to get what they want, it really should come as no surprise that the world after the rapture erupts into lawlessness.

“When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”  Revelation 6:5-6  NKJV

Most scholars agree that what we are told in these verses is that inflation runs rampant.  The economic system we enjoy now somehow disappears and they will have to spend an entire day’s wages to purchase enough food for just one day.  One might wonder if with all the talk lately of coming economic upheaval and shortages of necessities is simply a sign that the world is being prepared for exactly the time described in Revelation.

“When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”  Revelation 6:7-8  NKJV

Here we are told that the next result will be famine, obviously resulting in violence as people are willing to kill in order to survive, which certainly makes sense considering how expensive food will be.  Most commentaries also consider the death that follows in this passage is a result of global pestilence, which seems entirely logical taking into account what conditions are going to be like. Those same conditions, apparently, cause the beasts of the earth to turn on humans and see them as a source of food for survival. 

“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”  Revelation 6:15-17  NKJV

Most of us are familiar with the expression “have, and have not’s”, but it would appear in this passage that rich or poor, powerful or weak, everyone is going to be affected in such a way as to try and hide as best they can in order to escape what takes place in the world at this moment in time.

“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”  Matthew 24:22  NKJV

Some have taken the position that Jesus is saying here that the period we know as the tribulation is shortened from the seven year length revealed to us elsewhere in the Bible.  My thought here is that, rather, because He is responding to the disciples questions concerning the end of the “age” what He is saying is that God cuts short this period of time at seven years.  I believe the reason is clear. If God did not stop the tribulation after seven years and allowed this age to proceed, eventually man would simply cease to exist as “they” would sooner or later kill themselves off.

In years past, when I have taught on the book of Revelation, a common reaction was disbelief that the world could degenerate to the point where these events could occur.  Maybe in the past that position could be considered understandable, but my question to you today is have you watched the news lately?  This world is willingly being led down a path by Satan that has only one end.  Unfortunately, the sad result is that in the end, they get what they want and it certainly won’t be the world they expect.

When the rapture of the Church occurs, those who have made the choice to accept His gift of eternal life will go to be with Him forever for eternity. If you have never made the decision to accept that free gift I encourage you to do so today.  Simply ask God to forgive you of your sin based on your belief that Jesus died to pay the price for your sin, and turn over control of your life to Him.  You can do that right now by praying a prayer just like this one;

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen." 

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