Friday, June 14, 2019
Consider, that when the appointed time came, how suddenly the culture, the people and even nature railed against Christ, when God removed His restraint and the fury of the devil and hell broke upon Jesus. Riding into Jerusalem one day to people shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (John 12:13); and next, agonizing in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane! Then they crucified Him. Likewise, Satan, if he can find the saints, will destroy them at the tribulation mid-point, when God removes His restraint.
“And they [believers] overcame him [Satan and his Antichrist] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Rev. 12:11–12). At the middle of the tribulation wise prepared saints will escape to God’s “wilderness” provision, but many unwise will be left behind and martyred.
When the Spirit said “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev. 12:11), He references believers, who, in true relationship with Jesus believe the testimony of Jesus. Being a Christian is all about Jesus and His testimony, not the traditions and doctrines of men. Determine now that you will be among those “who know their God [and] shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (Dan. 11:32). When the tribulation days of testing fallen angel spirits arrives, don’t be like the foolish to whom the evil spirits responded to those without being born again, saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” (Acts 19:15).
I believe you want to spiritually and physically survive the 7-year tribulation, and come to the Day of the Lord prepared to meet Christ descending on the clouds of heaven as He promised at 1 Thess. 4:16. But you need to forsake all thoughts of a pre-trib rapture, because it’s a false hope. But to do that requires that you believe and hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ, because He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Do you believe Him?
Though Lot’s wife began making the trek to safety, her heart betrayed her allegiance, for she did not obey God, but looked back at Sodom, because that’s where her earthly possessions and two other daughters were! Our faith MUST be entirely in the Person and testimony of Jesus Christ. Anything else WILL leave us wanting. Thus, Jesus said “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
In the difficult days of tribulation to soon come, be filled with the Spirit and testimony of Jesus Christ. Have a true personal relationship with Jesus, and not church traditions. Decide that you will hold fast the end-time testimony of the One who died for your sins on that old rugged cross and saved you by His grace, a grace that neither you or I deserved. A grace that teaches us the ways and truths of God. A grace that will lead us to our eternal home with Christ Jesus.
Be encouraged to renew, even now, your personal relationship with Jesus. Be committed to Him. Humble yourself to His testimony. For surely He is our only salvation. Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19–20). Here, “all things” includes Jesus’ teaching that He gathers His elect “Immediately after the tribulation” (Matt. 24:29–31), and that “the end of the age” means “the end of the age”, not seven years before the end of the age.
Like Jesus, who at the tender age of twelve was about His Father’s business, Luke 2:49, so too, we must be about our Father’s business making disciples to Jesus “teaching them to observe all things that I [Jesus] have commanded you”. That’s not for the spiritually faint-hearted, but for those full of the Holy Spirit, teaching the whole truth of the “narrow gate…and difficult path” (Matt. 7:13–14) of salvation; a path fraught with tribulation, rejection and difficulty, but in the midst thereof, a peace that passes all understanding, a contentment with little and much, a joy unspeakable and full of glory, and a hope that never disappoints! Bless the Lord, O my soul!
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Rev. 12:11–12). Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Does your testimony agree with the testimony of Jesus Christ or with the traditions of men? The only testimony that will deliver one from the final fall and wrath of the devil, his demonic angels and Antichrist’s mark of the beast, is the testimony of Jesus Christ by those who have a personal relationship with Him. If one’s testimony and confession is the pre-trib rapture, great offense and very possible falling away from the faith will occur as Jesus taught at Matt. 24:10. The choice is entirely yours. Who will you believe for the final curtain-call of this present age?
Marlin J. Yoder
