Preface: The following was first first posted on January 12 of this year:
You have to really work at this. It does not come natural....in fact the natural would tend to lead to the opposite conclusion....but if you....as I said....work at it....I think you might agree with me.
This day and age that we live in.....is set apart all by itself.....much like it was for the generations two-thousand years ago....when Jesus walked among the people....and the apostles gave their lives in establishing churches far and wide.
Special isn't the word to describe us....for we are not special....nor were the believers in the first century....but something special was required of them....and something special is required of us today.
The demonic must have been in full swing back then. You can see this as so many were having demons cast out of them by Jesus and the apostles. You can see the demonic in how at one moment the people shouted...."Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"....as Jesus entered Jerusalem....but almost before you could blink....shouted.....Crucify him! You could see it in Judas...who Satan entered into. And you could see it in the actions of the rulers of Jerusalem as they were..."enraged" at Jesus...."and ground their teeth at him."
The demonic seems to be everywhere today. How else could you have what happened in Idaho...and then so many multiple murder/suicides in the last week....or the seemingly constant mass murders? You can see it today in how so many people literally shake in anger when talking about Christianity. The delusion that evangelicalism is part of today....is demonic in nature. You can see it in the false teachers that are all over the place....in how we are trusting in our own powers....having forgotten God's multiple warnings to trust only in Him....and you can see it in love having grown so cold that even we in evangelicalism have fallen under a spell.
All of this above....of our generations living right now....and how we have been allotted the task of living during the time of Christ's coming again in power and glory....all of this we are unaware of.....most of us that is. Aware or not....we are going through it....but here is the point that I want to attempt to make....
Yes....this that is somewhere just ahead is the Tribulation. If meditating from God's Word upon what happens during that period does not sober the reader....then I do not know what would sober them. So many prophecy teachers use the word....excited....when talking about the return of our Lord....but that is a very poor choice of words. Most think that they are going to be raptured just prior to all the commotion....but they will be in for a surprise....for we may not know day and hour....but we should be able to discern that we are not immediately taken out of this time of terror.....which finally leads to my point....
It is hard to put in words....and I do not want it to be misinterpreted....but we must....count it a blessing....that we will be tried as we will be. It is very much like a soldier who has trained for many years....but never seen the battle. An odd anecdote here.....as that time-honored film from 1955 comes to mind.....Mr. Roberts....with Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon and James Cagney and William Powell. Maybe you have never seen it....my age lets me down often when commenting like this.....but Henry Fonda's character....Mr. Roberts.....for the whole movie.....wanted to do his part.....and see battle.....before the war ended. Well.....he eventually did.
The battle scenes in Hollywood films in general that come most often to my mind....are of the landing craft....that just departed the troop transport and is headed to the beach. The marines....usually the same ones that we followed all through their training....are in that boat.....and it is quiet.....as the camera moves from face to face. There is nothing there that can be called excitement. Prayers are said....they were now being called upon. Well that is us....and believe it or not I am quiet....I just....in these posts....in as much as pull out my notebook....to record my thoughts.
I have given this opinion over and over again....as recently as a few days ago. Rich or poor....young or old....clergy or laity...professor or student....if you do not see the world in the actual stage of collapse that it is in....it is because your attention is somewhere else....your goals are somewhere else....and therefore you do not particularly want to see Jesus return soon....nor do you search the Scriptures for wisdom in all of this....but for those who live in the Bible as an elderly person might always wear their nose tubes for oxygen....whose every other thought seems to be a prayer of some sort....they are going to hear His voice....saying...."And behold, I am coming soon"....along with multiple other commands and encouragements to prepare and to be sober and to be vigilant and to rejoice...."And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." (this from that which is known as the Olivet Discourse....from Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and Luke 21....the pages of which in your bibles....by now should be well worn and marked up!)
