IN THE LAST DAYS
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:37. There are many words which define the Great Tribulation at the end of the age. They include deception, persecution, offenses, natural disasters, wars, famine, pestilence, death, and the proliferation of sin. Read Matthew, Chapters 24 and 25.
Jesus said that at the time of His return things will be like they were in the days of Noah. The Bible tells us that in the days of Noah the wickedness of man was great, and every imagination of men’s hearts was continuously evil. Genesis 6:5. The Bible also tells us that violence had filled the “entire Earth” before the Lord sent the flood to destroy the wicked. Genesis 6:13.
To say that many people are extremely “violent” and their hearts are “continuously evil” today would be an understatement. The names of people in many of today’s headlines read like a Who is Who from the pit of Ghenna. Many people today are turning a “blind eye” to abortion, gay marriage, common core, euthanasia, rioting, sexual perversion, and child molestation to name only a few. Just a few years ago these issues would have offended most people, but today they have become the acceptable norm in the eyes of many.
A few Church leaders are speaking out against the sin and debauchery that is engulfing the nations of this world today. Unfortunately, not many people are listening. The glory of God is no longer present in many churches which were once “filled” with the “fire” and presence of the Holy Spirit. Many churches have a “spiritual sign” over their door that says “Ichabod.” Yet, God is still speaking to the churches and to the world through the prophets and the events that are transpiring around the world today.
The Bible says “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these “last days” spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.” Hebrews 1:1-3.
God spoke in the past and He still speaks to mankindtoday many times and in many different ways, but to His people He chooses to speak through His prophets. He spoke and still speaks to the prophets, and the prophets in turn relate the message to His people. Now in these last days He has spoken and still speaks to us by His Son. Jesus continues to speak to the nations in the warnings He gave to them in Matthew, Chapter 24, through His prophets.
The Son spoke to His disciples and all those that He came in contact with to relate to them the message the Father had given Him. For thirty three and one-half years Jesus spoke to a lost and dying world about a love they did not know existed. He proved to them that God’s love did exist by the shedding of His life’s Blood as He was nailed to the cross on Golgotha’s Hill.
In these last days Jesus is speaking to the world and His people by the prophets, His Word, and through current events. He continues to speak to us through current events, miracles, signs, and wonders as well as through the message and power of the CROSS.
Unbelievers will see many signs and wonders, however they will continue to refuse to believe that Jesus is speaking directly to them. Natural men will continue in their self-seeking, pleasure-seeking ways and will refuse to admit they are living “in the last days.” They will refuse to believe they need to be delivered from the things which are coming upon the Earth.
Many people in churches today who desire pleasures more than God will fall away when the “time of testing” which will try the souls of all mankind finally visits them. They possess a form of godliness but lack the power which they will need to rescue them from their worldly lusts, addictions, and fears. They lack the faith and uncompromising attitudes which can help them overcome the perilous times they will face when “dark days” cast an ominous shadow upon the earth.
Even devils believe and tremble at the sound of Jesus name. However, many in today’s churches fail to honor Christ, glorify Him, or fear Him as God. Many use the name of Jesus as an opportunity for social gatherings or to draw attention to themselves in their search for men’s approval. If people misrepresent God’s name, His person, or His message, they will not get attention or approval from Him during their time of need.
All that the writers of the scriptures penned in the Bible was designed to draw mankind to Christ and to prepare His people for the consummation of the age at the appointed time. The Church and the “consummation of the age” He foreordained at the foundation of the world.
Throughout the Old Testament we can find examples of Christ and the many prophecies He fulfilled. All were written as examples which pointed to Him and His Church. The examples pointed to the Church and how the Church would live, how they should live, and what would happen before and after the consummation of the age.
The Word, Christ, is the reason everything the scribes wrote about from creation to Revelation was written. He is everything creation points to from the beginning of time until the end of time. In the beginning “I AM” created the heavens and the earth. In the Book of Revelation the first words that Jesus spoke to John were “I AM” the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
Hebrews 1:10-12 says: “Thou, Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish; but you remain; and they shall all wax old as a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but you are the same, and thy years shall not fail.”
God, who spoke to mankind in times past, in these last days speaks to us by His Son. From the Book of Matthew through the Book of Revelation, Christ Himself speaks to the world, to the Church, and to individuals. He speaks in many different ways concerning many different things. The total sum of what He tries to convey to us, however, is that He is the only hope for mankind from beginning to end. In Christ all things exist, and outside of Him everything will perish. All men who refuse to repent and receive the truth will die in their sins and fail to receive His glorious salvation.
Going beyond revealing Himself as the Savior of the world, Christ reveals Himself to His Church as Lord. He reveals His Word to us, which is His will for us. God desires His will to be performed in every area of our lives. He desires His character to be formed within us. God wants to give direction to our lives in order that we will not lack in any good thing. God desires to help us pursue godliness and holiness which we must possess or we will not KNOW Him or SEE Him.
In the Book of Revelation Christ reveals Himself as I AM. He not only speaks to the churches and reveals His will and desires to them, He also reveals the direction the world and church will take in the end times. Christ reveals the events that will take place through a series of plagues, woes, and catastrophes that will precede His second coming.
The foreshadowing, or types and shadows of some of these events are found in the Book of Exodus. The word “Exodus” means “departure.” It is the story of how God revealed Himself as I AM to His chosen people through great signs and wonders during a time of “great tribulation” in Egypt, which is a type and symbol of the world today. They were led by Moses a great prophet, who was a type and shadow of Christ, first through those signs and wonders in Egypt, then through many tests and trials in the wilderness. Finally, they were led into the “promised land,” which was a type and shadow of God’s promises to mankind.
The Book of Revelation is the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. In the Book of Revelation Jesus reveals not only Himself but continues to reveal events, signs, wonders, and plagues that will occur in the last days. These are a fulfillment of the prophetic types and shadows that occurred in Exodus. Jesus is coming soon to take the Church out of the world, but first he must take the world out of the Church. Jesus is coming for a Church without spot or wrinkle, however the Bride has not yet prepared herself for His coming. The Bride must be completely washed in the Blood of the Lamb, and her garments must be whiter than snow without a spot or wrinkle. Her testimony must be that she “desires His return more than anything else.”
Many in churches today fail to realize the hold which the world and the things in the world have on them. They do not recognize the deceitfulness of materialism as well as their own sinful nature. Materialism and the deceitfulness of riches have become taskmasters that oppress them and hold them in bondage. They cannot see they are slaves to the things which they think empower them to survive. The deceitfulness of earthly pleasures and sin keep them from being truly free to serve God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Many Christians are “lovers of pleasure” more than lovers of God. When tribulation arises in their lives, they will find that their faith is not rooted and grounded in the delivering power of God. They believe God exists, and even honor Him with their lips, but not with their hearts. They hope God will be there when they need Him, however they fail to spend enough time in prayer to develop a closer relationship with Him. Unfortunately, they will not be able to approach the “throne of grace” in their time of need because the door into the throne room of God is blocked by their sin.
God is preparing in these days men and women who will be like Moses to lead His children out of spiritual Egypt (the world), and put them on a course toward the fulfillment of the promises of God. Like the ministry of Moses and the plagues in Egypt, the campaign to lead the Church away from the taskmasters of sin and spiritual slavery begins with signs and wonders.
Men who walk in the footsteps of Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist will become increasingly numerous as the “sands of time” begin to run out. However, we must be careful to recognize and know the ones who are in that group and those who claim to be of that group who are not. The Bible tells us that many will come in the name of Jesus “claiming” to be speaking for Him and will lead many astray.
At the judgment seat of Christ many will go to Him and boast of the great things they have done in His name, but He will declare to them “I never knew you.” We are representatives of Him and His voice. We are not only preachers of Him and His grace, but also of His thoughts and desires. We are His voice here on this earth. As Christ speaks to us, we share His thoughts to His people and the world. That is the way it is supposed to be. If we say we “know Him” but fail do the things He says, we are not His and we do not know Him.
The self-willed, hypocritical, pleasure seekers will never find the Lord’s help in the time of need when the time of testing comes upon all who dwell on the earth. Only those who are sincere about their relationship with Christ will find help and deliverance in their time of need. They will call upon the Lord in the midst of their troubles, and He will hear from Heaven and come to their rescue. During the Great Tribulation many will perish without receiving any help from God because they have failed to seek Him.
I AM
God is sending to the nations His prophets with a message to the world to proclaim that HE IS and that He is coming to take the Church out of bondage. His message to the church is “I AM the Lord thy God.” I AM that I AM and there is none like me in all the Earth. I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I AM the God of your past, present and future. I AM the ever present, ever existing God of yesterday, today, and forever, and I will not allow my Church to have any other god’s before me. I will dwell eternally in the midst of my people, and THEY shall know that I AM God.”
“I AM” was God’s response to the Hebrew children’s cry for deliverance in Egypt. Tell them that I AM sent you was the only business card Moses needed. There were many skeptics that doubted Moses was the one I AM was sending to lead them out of Egyptian bondage. Therefore God had to performed miracles by the hand of Moses in order to prove to the doubters he was God’s man. God was also sending a prophetic message through those events that He would reveal to the Church in the later days.
For years the body of Christ has been like a sleeping giant, just as the children of Israel were in Egypt. They are waiting to be awakened by the moving of the waters of God’s Spirit. The Church has become like the children of Israel in Egypt when they forgot the God of their fathers. The Hebrews had become complacent and apathetic in their relationship with God, and had fallen into a deep spiritual slumber.
Until now the Church has not been the example of Christ that she was ordained to be from the foundation of the world. However, she will become that example of Christ when she becomes without spot or wrinkle in Him.
There has been much division and turmoil in the many churches today. Sin is also found in many areas of the Church, mostly due to Church leaders who are hirelings or spiritual fornicators who lead their congregations away from God into damnation. This has left the Church, downtrodden, weak, and lacking in in the power and glory of God. The love of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the cares of everyday life have beset many in the Church and kept them in bondage.
Today the true Church is being stirred out of her sleep as “sleeping beauty” was by her Prince Charming. The Church partook of the forbidden fruit that the sorcerer subtly placed before her eyes, and unfortunately she fell asleep. Now the Prince of Peace has come to her side in order to wake her out of her slumber and is calling her to repentance. It is time for the Bride of Christ to wash her wedding garments and prepare herself for her Prince.
Christ is sending a message today through the “prophetic ministry” to the Babylonian System saying “Let my people go.” During the time of great tribulation the chosen people of God will cry out for deliverance from her earthly taskmasters.
Although there is a great falling away which is quickly coming, a remnant is, and will be, washing their robes in the Blood of the Lamb. They will love not their lives, even though they are threatened with death, and many will be killed. God will have a remnant that will not participate in the great falling away AFTER the Son of Perdition is revealed. (Second Thessalonians, Chapter 2. (Read the actual order of events for the truth).
Because the bride’s love and devotion for her Bridegroom will be greater than her fear of death or reprisals from her persecutors, the Bridegroom will be glorified in her midst. She shall glorify Him in great sorrow and affliction during great tribulation. God will hear her cries and plead with the world systems to let her go, for her greatest desire is to dwell in “heavenly places” with Christ. She has been bought with a great price, and great love and care is given to her by her Redeemer.
God will plead with the nations as He pleads with the world for the peace of Israel and for the sake of His chosen ones. There will be great signs and wonders as the prophet Joel spoke about in the scriptures. There will be plagues which will come upon the earth as a result of man’s ungodly ways. There will be plagues that will come upon the earth s result of the ways in which mankind misused the physical elements of this world. The elements of the Earth which were entrusted to mankind were meant to be used, not abused.
God sent the plagues upon Egypt as an example of things to come, and as a punishment for the way gods Egyptians worshipped and the way they treated His chosen people. All these things are representative of how events will be played out in the last days. It is time for His Bride, His church, to prepare herself for the times that are coming, because the end of the age is at hand, and the day of His coming is on the horizon.
Isaiah, Chapter 48, Verses 12-13 says “Hearken unto me O Jacob and Israel my called: I AM He: I AM the first, I also AM the last. Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. According to the Apostle John, all things were made by Him. Christ revealed Himself to us as I AM throughout the New Testament. He continues to reveal Himself today as I AM.
Jesus fulfills all in all to the Church, and has come to fulfill His plan and purpose for the Church in these last days. He came to fulfill all things that were spoken of Him in the scripture in order to fulfill ALL that He is in the Church, His body, His fullness--His bride.
Jesus has come to prepare a Holy Nation without spot or wrinkle or any such blemish so He can present Himself along with His body, the Church, to God. We are preparing for the final dispensation that constitutes a new creation and world without end. That “new creation” is the culmination of His work in filling the Church with the ability to overcome this pres