Friday, August 18, 2017
Last week I emphasized the need for Christians to know “All Scripture”, including the tough end-time prophetic testimony of Jesus Christ. We must not ignore knowledge and holiness that empower endurance until the resurrection rapture “at the last day” (John 6:40, 44, 54). We must believe the whole “testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9) in love with power to endure to the end.
Consider: would one fill a car’s gas tank only two-thirds and still expect to go the distance of a full tank? Or, would one bake a wedding cake with only two-thirds of the ingredients and expect a good cake? Certainly not. Yet, many pastors exemplify cherry-picking only two-thirds of “the testimony of Jesus Christ”. But a cherry-picked gospel will never produce an equipped Christian.
Now is the time for repentance and humility before Christ to whom we must give account; now is the time to call upon the Lord Jesus for mercy, grace and forgiveness for unbelief; now is the time for spiritual awakening to endure until the end of this age. But now is NOT the time to take comfort in traditions of men that lead one away from “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9).
For, “there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25–26). Time is now urgent to personalize the testimony of Jesus Christ.
In just three days a powerful sign appears in the sun and moon – a rare solar eclipse August 21, 2017 will strike a path of total darkness 70 miles wide across the heart of the United States from the west coast of Washington to the east coast of South Carolina. Judgment is imminent. Reborn Israel is now 70 years old, and the world will soon be in the winepress of the 7-year tribulation.
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Heb. 3:14–15). Please, today, in sincerity, confess your sins and unbelief to Christ and be saved.
The ensuing 40 days could bring fiscal chaos; World War 3; civil war; a return of hybrid giants led by “a foreign [alien] god” (Dan. 11:39); earthquakes; volcanoes; “hail and fire…thrown to the earth” (Rev. 8:7); global pestilences and famines; or a measure of all the above. But more importantly, will this sign cause the church to repent of its mediocrity and unbelief? I pray so.
The 40 days following the eclipse will likely produce the “covenant with many for one week” (Dan. 9:27), which would signal the beginning of the final 7 years of this present age, otherwise known as the 7 years of tribulation. But as much of the church acquiesces to the world, are you equipped with knowledge of truth to discern the tribulation start should that event in fact occur?
In Noah’s day: “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, [which is equal to the day “worthy” (Luke 21:36) saints enter God’s safety and provision for 1,260 days (Rev. 12:6)] and [unbelievers] did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:38–39).
In Lot’s day: “they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom [equal to the day discerning “worthy” saints enter God’s safety and provision for 3.5 years (Rev. 12:14)] it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:28–29).
For this reason Christ said “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). Jesus said this in regard to the great tribulation, the last 3 1/2 years of this present age when saints that are “counted worthy” find their land of Goshen during “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7).
If you’re a Christian, don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not part of “Jacob’s trouble”, because, in Christ, we are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29). Jacob was the grandson of Abraham which makes the true Christian, a true Jew (Rom. 2:28 – 29), a part of “Jacob’s trouble”.
It’s the wise virgins, the “freewoman” of Galatians 4:21–31 who find the safety and provision of God and “fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Rev. 12:6) during the great tribulation, the last 3 1/2 years of this age. Then, “Immediately after the tribulation” (Matt. 24:29–31) occurs the resurrection rapture “at the last day” (John 6:40, 44, 54). But are you part of that “freewoman”?
If you’re not certain, you can be, for God promised “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9–10). But God also said, “he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36b).
It’s not those who just intellectually believe Jesus died and rose again who are the “freewoman”, but those, who, with their heart believe and confess, and then actually believe “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9) and live a life committed to the truths of Jesus Christ. It’s the latter who are part of the “freewoman” (Gal. 4:21–31). Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Have you truly been born again?
Marlin J. Yoder
