Beginning of Sorrows… As the days of Noah

"I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed," Psalms 34:4-5 NIV. One of the best explanations of the end time is found in the book of Daniel. It is in this book that God reveals to Daniel in chapter 12 an entire summary of major events that are scheduled to take place at the time of the end. God tells Daniel, "At that time Michael shall stand up, the great Prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who was found written in the book…. But you Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase," Daniel 12:1-4 ESV. In Daniel 12:6-9 KJV, we see Daniel asking God, "my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?" And He said, "Go your way Daniel, for the words are sealed till the time of the end." Why did God tell Daniel to seal up the book that he was looking at? I believe the book is the same seven-sealed scroll seen in Revelation 5, which only Jesus has been found worthy enough to open and read. The time of the end is described as a time of trouble that has never been seen before. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him about the time of the end, He reiterated Daniel’s words, "for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be," Matthew 24:21 KJV. The book of Daniel indicates that the time of the end will be a period of unheard-of trouble that will conclude with the establishment of God's kingdom. The Bible reveals that specific prophetic events will mark the end of the age. Jesus cautioned His disciples to be careful, if they thought, they were witnessing the signs of the end of the age. He said, "Take heed that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name and say, I am he, and the time has drawn near. Do not go after them, but when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately," Luke 21:8-9 KJV. There it is! Plain as the day! Disasters, wars, and religious fanatics do not determine it is the end time, but rather the presence of them indicates the "beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:8). The global upheaval that the world is currently experiencing is only the beginning of unimaginable sorrow! *** Jesus used the example of what it was like during Noah’s day to reveal the attitudes of what it will be like at the time of the end. "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be," Matthew 24:37-39 NKJV. These verses tell you that when an end time judgment is near again, the attitudes of people will be the same as, they were in Noah’s time. Jesus was saying that the world in the end time would mirror that of Noah's day. The world will be full of violence again, and people will be rejecting God and serving their own flesh with pleasures of the world. In the Second book of Timothy, the apostle Paul characterizes end time attitudes in his letter to Timothy. "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power," 2Timothy3:1-5 NKJV. These mindsets will exist near the end, and society will be deteriorating rapidly. The assortment of attitudes that Paul describes will prevent a tremendous number of people from believing in God, or recognizing any biblical warning signs until all hell breaks loose. Just as Noah was mocked for building an ark, the end of the age will come, and many people will not have seen a need to be prepared for a severe judgment. For your sake, I will focus only on the Rapture, which is symbolized by the ark, and why the church, as a body of believers, will not go through the Tribulation, which is symbolized by the flood. The awesome reminder to all of us here is the fact that, in Noah’s day, there was a perverse cultural decline, and that it will be present again towards the end. Social breakdown is our indicator! "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he made man on the Earth, and it grieved him in his heart," Genesis 6:5-6 ESV. In other words, God was deeply hurt to see men and women perverting themselves. Please don't shoot me! I'm just the messenger. *** As far as the end time relates to the other eras of history, please understand that there are three known ages recorded in the Bible. They are "the world that existed from Adam to Noah" (2Peter 3:6), "the present age" which has existed since the flood, and will continue to exist until Jesus returns (Galatians 1:4), and the third age being "the world to come" (Hebrews 2:5). In Revelation 14:19 NKJV, God compares end time events to that of an angel gathering and harvesting vines that are loaded with grapes, "so the angel thrust his sickle into the Earth and gathered the vine of the Earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God." This verse makes it clear that there will be no limit to the destructiveness of God's wrath. It is going to look like the whole world was put into a blender! God will only intervene before total annihilation occurs. The end time events will be the climax of what began in the Garden of Eden, when Satan planted in Eve’s mind the thought of disobedience to God's command. The subject of the end time is not just a New Testament idea. From the very beginning in the book of Genesis, God gave us a glimpse of the future, to a time beyond "the world that then existed" and beyond our "present age" to the time of "the world to come" with the establishment of the Kingdom of God. God is so cool! He tells the end from the beginning. He operates in the dimension of time. In the Garden of Eden, God revealed that a time would come when Satan's reign on Earth would be over. God told Satan, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel," Genesis 3:15 NKJV. In essence, God told Satan that he might hurt Jesus, but in the end, Jesus was going to crush him. In other words, Satan will never be the victor. Nonetheless, he still believes that he can win with the help of evil nations, who will believe his wicked lies. Satan is a liar, and he deceives the world. He even lies to himself! John 8:44 NIV reads, "... He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." In all honor, power, and glory, the God of all Creation will be justified! It was never His intention to share you, His creation, under the influence of Satan. Now, for the good part of God's love story, how exactly did He intend to rapture you back? Last Call for The Church available in paperback as well as Kindle at amazon.com/dp/B01BX98RD8

The Trumpets will Sound

Awesome Pre-Tribulation Rapture Teaching View it now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBGqgsIMSk&feature=youtu.be All of this is covered in Last Call for The Church available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BX98RD8

The Bible is a book of Blood

The Bible is a book of blood. Blood is the mystery that was hidden from the foundation of the world. God never revealed the mystery hidden in the blood of His Son. If Satan had known about the significance of Jesus’ blood, he never would have harmed Him. Jesus was the sacrificial "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," (Revelation 13:8 KJV). Have you ever wondered why blood is so important to God? Well, He is the creator of life, and blood is the force that sustains it. It is a mysterious substance that God gave to the body of man to nourish itself. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood…," Leviticus 17:11 KJV. When God created Adam, He breathed into his nostrils, and Adam became a living soul, (Genesis 2:7). Satan and the angels had never seen blood before God created Adam. They are spirits, and therefore, they do not have a physical body. Blood has always been important to God. He required it to cover sin from the beginning. Through the Immaculate Conception, Jesus, the son of God, was born of a virgin woman. There was no sin in His bloodline. His blood was perfect! The Holy Spirit fell on the church at Pentecost after Jesus returned to His Father's house. The Holy Spirit is the "Comforter" that Jesus promised would come after His Ascension. The Holy Spirit manifested within the body of the church, and it is the current restrainer of the antichrist. A spirit needs a body to manifest itself in, and when the Holy Spirit filled church is gone, Satan, who is a spirit, will be able to take over inside of the antichrist. The apostle Paul tells us this in 2Thessalonians 2:7 NASB, "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way." The apostle John tells us in John 16:7-8 KJV what Jesus said regarding the assignment of the Holy Spirit, "nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." The Holy Spirit is the restraining spiritual force that limits the present power of Satan on the Earth. If the Holy Spirit was not currently restraining the power of Satan; things would be a lot worse than they are right now. The Holy Spirit is the restrainer of the "mystery of iniquity," which is the antichrist. The presence of God's Holy Word is holding the antichrist back until an appointed time. When the Holy Spirit is removed with the church at the Rapture, the antichrist will emerge as seen in 2Thessalonians 2:7-12 NRSV. It took Noah many years to build the ark. He knew a season of judgment was near, but he did not know the exact date. Noah chose to believe what God had spoken, and not what the weather looked like! Undoubtedly, it was sunny and fair, and no rain was in the forecast. But, one day God gave the okay for Noah to go ahead and board the ark. The door to the ark closed, and the flood waters came. There were no weather alerts! No alarms sounded to seek shelter, other than the one that Noah had already given. The flood came quickly, and there was no longer an opportunity for those under God's wrath at that time to change their minds, and get into the ark for protection. I bring this up here, to serve as a reminder of how close we really are to a raging storm. I invite you to read, like or share Last Call for The Church which is now available at http://amazon.com/dp/B01BX98RD8