THINGS TO COME

Copyright © 1990 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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The struggle to bring peace and justice to the earth will not attain victory by the brain of man seeking to overcome sociological problems. The tragedies of mankind will not yield to human effort no matter how selfless, how benevolent. Rather, a battle is being fought between two powers, between titans of the spirit realm.

The gentle scholar dabbling in the theories of libertarianism is a pawn of Satan. The innocent student hoping to find success by inviting a spirit guide into his consciousness has been duped. The immature Christian seeking to become wealthy by using faith and imaging has been deceived by the enemies of his soul.

The humanists, the libertarians, the theorists of democracy, are often vicious proponents of anti-God dogma. They do not seek truth; rather, they strive to remove all restraints on human conduct so they can indulge themselves in the lusts of their flesh. Their hostility toward the Gospel is no more idealistic, no more virtuous than this.

There are two kinds of Christians in our day. There are those who have been brought into the churches by the devices of the ministry, and then there are those who keep God’s commandments and have the testimony of Jesus. The first are being taught to use God’s blessings to save their lives, while the second die to their adamic nature by taking up their cross. Only those who are truly identified with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection will survive the dangerous and subtle deceptions in the days ahead, including the emphasis on the rights of people and personal freedom.


THINGS TO COME

My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, (Galatians 4:19)

In the present hour, it seems that the Holy Spirit is emphasizing the formation of Christ in the Church. Perhaps the generation living now will see much of the Book of Revelation take place. We might have the greatest opportunity to come to the fullness of Christ, and yet be exposed to the greatest danger of accepting the spirit of religious delusion.

So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen. (Matthew 20:16)

While God has accomplished much during the Church Age, we believe the most significant work of the era has been, and continues to be, the formation of Christ in the Lord’s disciples.

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. (Revelation 12:1)
She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (Revelation 12:5)

We believe that the “woman clothed with the sun” is the Christian Church, and the male child (man child) is Christ who is formed in the saints. Satan stands before the Church, not because he is overly concerned about the Church (the Church does not really threaten his rule the earth), but in order to destroy the Son.

His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:4)

The Son is the ruler who is to come, the ruler over the earth. Christ—Head and Body—will govern the nations of the earth. The Kingdom of God is God in Christ in the saints, governing the nations of saved peoples of the earth. The kingdoms of the world will be given to God’s Anointed, His Christ.

Satan is not disturbed at the thought of the saints going to Heaven, but he is utterly determined they never will govern the earth.

Today, by every device imaginable, Satan encourages the Christian people to serve the Lord by their life. He holds out the hope of successful, fulfilled living “in Jesus.” Satan knows well that he cannot be driven from the earth until the saints are willing to serve the Lord by their death. It is only by our death with Jesus that the Life of Christ can be revealed.

The Ruler is being created today and He first must rule in the personalities of the saints. The issue is obedience—obedience to the Father. God is seeking those of the believers who are willing to die to the world, to sin, and to their self-will, and to obey the Father perfectly.

The believers who will answer the Father with a faithful heart will become a remnant, a firstfruits of the Bride. Through them—a present-day Gideon’s army—Satan will be thrown down from his place in Heaven.

We do not know at what point in eons past that Satan, a cherub, decided to seek to be equal with God. The Scriptures imply that he gained many followers among leading spirits in Heaven. The rebellion came from Heaven and entered the race of mankind. Heaven and earth suffer to this day because of the wickedness in the heart of Satan and his followers.

We read that in the last days, Michael and his angels will throw down Satan and his angels from their place in the heavens.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9)

The question is, Why didn’t Michael and his troops hurl Satan to the earth thousands of years ago? It was not possible for them to do so. The issue of eternal righteousness had not been resolved. It pleased the Father that it would be the saints, the dust of the earth, who would overcome Satan in the realm of obedience to the Father, thus making it possible for Michael and his army to drive Satan from Heaven.

To be more precise, it will be Christ in the saints, in the dust of the earth, who will conquer Satan.

“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. (Revelation 12:11)

It is not the angels who overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and by not loving their lives to the death, it is human beings. God has chosen Christ-filled dust as the tool that will overcome Satan and force him from his historic position in the heavens.

Satan accuses the saints constantly.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. (Revelation 12:10)

In the last days, the “brethren” will overcome Satan. How?

  • By the blood of the Lamb.
  • By the word of their testimony.
  • By not loving their lives to the death.

The victorious saints put their trust in the atoning authority of the blood of the righteous Jesus, and Satan cannot overcome them with his accusations. The blood is sufficient to keep the victorious saints in a state of righteousness before God.

The Holy Spirit overcomes Satan through the saints. He gives them the wisdom and strength to walk in righteousness and holiness. He strengthens them to hold fast to the Scriptures. He bears witness through them with works and utterances of supernatural authority and power.

The “brethren” count themselves as crucified with Christ, and in their patience, they wait in prison—wait to the death. Their suffering slays the self-will in them, making them perfectly obedient to God. Satan sifts them, under the supervision of the Lord.

The saints writhe on the cross while the rest of the churchgoers play religious games. The saints hunger! They thirst! They cry out to God while impaled on the horns of wild oxen, to speak figuratively. They suffer as Jesus suffered, in their own measure. They are faithful to death.

When Satan is through testing them, when there is nothing left to test, the Father asks Satan, “Well?”

Satan has no answer. They have overcome him.

Now the Father issues the authority to Michael and his angels. Now the legions of Heaven are authorized and empowered to force the ancient monarch, Satan, from his place in the heaven.

Will you be one of those who obeys the Father to this extent? Heaven and earth await your answer.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. (Revelation 12:10)

Good news for the heavens. The evil influence no longer has access to the Throne of God.

The victorious saints have won victory for the heavens.

  • Salvation.
  • Strength.
  • The Kingdom of God.
  • The power of God’s Christ.

All these blessings have been brought to the heavens because of the willingness of a handful of people to not love their own life, to choose God’s will to the point of death.

Satan and his angels now are compelled to live on the earth. What will it be like here? As we look about us and think of the downward path the nations (particularly the so-called “free” nations) have taken in the last few years, we wonder how far we can be from the coming of Satan and his angels to the earth.

The tail of the dragon has brought down to earth many of the “stars of heaven”—prominent ministers of the Gospel who have been deceived by sin and have fallen from their position in Christ at God’s right hand.

The things done today in America, for example, are so filthy, so blasphemous, that we cannot grasp the extent of the depravity. Our minds are numb—and yet the government proceeds with its programs as though America were a righteous nation abiding under the blessing of God.

There can be no doubt there is turmoil in the heavens. The wealthy democracies of our day are sinking ever deeper into spiritual death. The poorer nations are living in civil war and terrible poverty, in many instances.

But we do not dwell too much on these abominations. The Lord our God is calling us to conquer Satan. We can overcome him through Christ, and in so doing God’s Ruler will be brought forth. When He, Christ, comes to earth with His legions, all of Satan’s presence and works will be destroyed from the earth—even the memory of them.

The moral filth, the civil wars, and the poverty will be done away when Christ returns.

We choose to meditate about the coming victory, not about the works of Satan in the earth, although we remain aware and watchful concerning what is taking place around us, and do what we can to help when the opportunity arises.

As soon as the Son is brought forth, He is caught up to God and to His throne.

She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (Revelation 12:5)

He is caught up to God because He is God’s beloved Son.

He is caught up to the Throne of God because to Him has been given all authority in Heaven and on the earth.

After we have been saved and filled with God’s Spirit, the struggle begins. Satan attempts to keep us earthbound. The Scripture exhorts us to set our love on the things in Heaven, to lay up treasures in Heaven.

If we follow the Holy Spirit, what has been born in us breaks through the oppression and ascends to God. Victory takes place in us. The Day Star arises in our heart.

The Kingdom of God is in Heaven at the right hand of God. Those who are attempting to set up the Kingdom on earth now are not walking in God. Even if we were able to convince all men to obey God, the Kingdom still would not be here. The Kingdom is God in Christ in the saints. Our life is hidden with Christ in God. The Kingdom that is being formed in us cannot be revealed to the earth until Christ is revealed.

The Child is caught up to God the moment He is born in us. We experience this catching up of the Child as a breakthrough into spiritual victory. We have an inner sense of being “prayed through.”

As soon as we gain this victory in Christ, we are to keep our place in Christ at the right hand of God by maintaining victory every moment of every day. We learn to handle every challenge as soon as it comes by praying and pressing through to victory in Jesus. We do not (as sometimes happens with careless believers) permit an issue to drag on. We settle it at once in prayer. In this manner we continue abiding in the Lord Jesus.

What of the woman, the Church, after the saints break through into victory? The Church will be forced by the lawless into a wilderness environment. God already has prepared a place for her to survive during the days of distress, and she will be nourished—probably by strong saints who are walking in the Presence of the Lamb.

Many nations will have an opportunity to assist God’s people, as Satan persecutes her and sends a flood of evil after her. The nations that assist the believers during the persecution will enter the Kingdom when the Lord returns. The nations that do not help the persecuted believers will be led away to the fiery Gehenna—there to be tormented forever.

A division is coming. There are two kinds of Christians in our day:

  • There are those who have been brought into the churches by the devices of the ministry.
  • There are those who keep God’s commandments and have the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17)

We have been taught that Christians are not required to keep the commandments of God. We have been taught a lie. Many of the present-day Christian doctrines are false. They are not of the Lord. The theological model called “Dispensationalism” is destructive of coherent Bible interpretation. The Charismatic movement is filled with the spirit of religious delusion, preparing the day when so-called Spirit-filled people join with democratic leaders and fill the earth with the spirit and works of humanism.

There is only one kind of true Christian no matter what name he has chosen. It is the individual who keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Christ—in that order!

It is worthless for us to have the testimony of Christ if we do not keep God’s commandments—as is true of multitudes of church attenders of our day.

He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:4)

We have become so accustomed to the frivolous novelties of the churches that we cannot remember what a true Christian is like.

The true Christian keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Christ. Satan has declared war on him in the day in which we are living!

The “sea,” in the Scriptures, represents the mass of people—always tossed about by the winds of world opinion. There will be no “sea” of unregenerate people on the new earth, for every individual will have Christ dwelling in him.

From the sea of mankind has come a monster.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. (Revelation 13:1)

Over the past four hundred years, a philosophy has been developed. Call it humanism, call it libertarianism, call it freedom of expression, call it what you will. It has one concept that it emphasizes. The concept is, “Man is God—the only God there is.”

Democratic government is a suitable expression of the idea that man is God because democratic government emphasizes the right of people to express themselves as they choose.

For the oppressed of Europe, the changes brought about by revolution against authority sometimes appeared to be in keeping with Christian principles. But the answer to oppression is not revolution; it is faith in God.

The United States of America has its roots in the Pilgrim fathers—religious people who were ready to endure every hardship in order to serve God. They have left us with a priceless legacy.

But another America was born with the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Constitution, and the Amendments to the Constitution. The second America has little in common with the America of the Pilgrims. Today the second America is driving out the heritage of the original America. Freedom of speech appears at first to be biblical. It is anything but biblical! The Scriptures teach disciplined speech, claiming that the tongue is set on fire of Hell.

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. (James 3:6)

The objective of American democracy is freedom for the individual so he may pursue happiness. The objective of the Scriptures is cross-carrying obedience to the Father so the individual may pursue righteousness.

Oppressed nations of our own day are struggling to throw off the yoke of government in order to obtain liberty—political liberty similar to that found in the United States. The people of the United States have political liberty but languish in the cruel chains of spiritual bondage. The oppressed nations are not seeking righteousness, they are seeking freedom of expression.

Some members of the oppressed nations are Christians or Jews who wish to worship God without interference. This is a righteous desire. But do they realize Antichrist readily overcomes believers who are living at their ease in a wealthy democracy? The oppressed believers seek to come to America. Do they know that the Christian testimony in America has been destroyed? Do they realize the sword of Divine judgment hovers over America?

A Beast has come out of the sea. His name is “man is God—the only God there is.” His number is 666. Man was created on the sixth day. Three is the number of God. The number 666, the trinity of sixes, is man making himself God.

Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. (Daniel 11:36)

Antichrist will be a man (or woman) who will appear in the last days. But his spirit has been with us from the first century, or earlier.

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. (I John 2:18)

People of today, including Christians, who have not submitted themselves to the will of God, have the mark of Antichrist in their right hand or in their forehead. Whether there will be an actual physical mark, we do not know. Probably so. But where man’s uncrucified will is active, there is Antichrist.

The great problem, the great deception of the last days, is the concept that man can govern his conduct by his own mind, his own brain. For several hundred years, man, particularly Western man, has been toying with the notion that man ought to be the master of his own destiny. This is Antichrist.

The idea has been developing that man is his own God. This thought has become so much a part of us we are unable to envision a civilization in which people practice righteousness, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Yet, God will accept nothing else.

The Lord Jesus Christ came with the supreme solution. He died on the cross, signaling the end of the adamic race. In Him we all died. Those who want to be saved, who desire to enter the Kingdom of God, must die with Christ and become part of His resurrection life.

Water baptism means we willingly assign our adamic nature to the cross and enter the resurrection Life of Christ—the life that will be revealed when He returns to earth.

Death is the only solution to the rebellion in the human race.

Today the Christian ministry is teaching people how to live. The Lord wants us to learn to die so we may truly live.

Antichrist will subsidize the Christian churches in the future, showing them how to use their gifts to bless the nations of the earth. The majority of believers will accept his help, believing that he has been sent of God—finally, that he is God and that they are God also.

The program of making Christians believe they are God, in control of their own gifts and destiny, is under way today. Many Charismatic believers have been trapped in it.

The doctrine that the believers are God is a counterfeit of the true unity to which the Lord Jesus has called us. Indeed, the Lord has called us to be part of Himself, part of God.

The difference between the plan of Antichrist and the plan of God is not always obvious. As a result, the prayerless, careless, believers are easily deceived.

Antichrist teaches us to live, to use our gifts to express ourselves and bring help and deliverance to other people—all in the name of God, of course. We become little gods.

Christ teaches us to die, to depend on His resurrection life so our gifts and destiny may flow from the will of the Father. It is only through crucifixion with Christ that the Life of Christ can dwell in us. We are called to be an integral part of God through Christ. Divine love invites us to be one in Jesus in the Father.

We are not called to be gifted people, we are called to die so Christ, and God in Him, may have an eternal dwelling place. We are to become the chariot of God.

Man is dust. The last days will reveal that flesh profits nothing.

Antichrist stands ready to assist the believer as he seeks to operate in the supernatural realm.

Christ stands ready to receive the repentant individual as he casts his life upon the Lord.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (Revelation 13:1,2)

Satan stood on the earth and planted in the mind of man the concept that man through his own reasoning can bring about Paradise. Satan called forth from the sea of mankind a monster having great wisdom, power, and authority. The wisdom of the monster produces blasphemy. We notice that the educational systems of the world, the developers of the adamic mind, always (in spite of their claims that they are disinterested observers of facts) blaspheme God and His Christ.

Any person of intelligence can observe the propaganda being carried on in the name of “education.” The libertarians accuse the Christians of presenting dogma to children, such as the biblical account of creation. The libertarians, by endorsing the easily disproved, foolish hypothesis of evolution, are the current dogmatists.

The doctrine of separation of church and state, as it is used in America, is a hypocritical farce. Spiritism and humanism are religions. Yet they are prevalent in the public schools. Transcendental meditation is a religious exercise; yoga is a Hindu practice. Both of these are practiced in public institutions.

Supernatural involvement in the form of imaging, positive thinking, success thinking, the acceptance of spirit guides, have their practitioners in public schools. Various totems, dances, and other religious expression from different cultures are being brought into the public schools in an effort to dilute the prevalence of the traditions of Western Christianity. The Japanese fish is flown from the public school flagpole. The Chinese dragon parades through the playground.

Yet every Christian practice, along with the Scriptures, is rigorously denied entrance to the schools under the doctrine of the separation of church and state.

Public educators know that education cannot proceed in a moral-spiritual vacuum. In fact, the very removal of the idea of God from the schools is in and of itself a religious practice. To have no God is to practice the religion of having no God. Secularism is as much a religion as Christianity. It is impossible to remove religion from people because religion consists of the set of ideas that guide one’s life.

The question is not whether there should be religion in the public schools of America; the question is which religion will be practiced. The answer does not come through truth or moral superiority but through power. It is not a question of right and wrong, but of who can force his will on people.

The struggle today concerning evolution versus creation, Christmas versus a winter holiday, Easter versus the spring recess, is not a conscientious debate in which people of integrity are seeking to find ways of dwelling together in peace and love. It is a naked power struggle in which people who hate the moral constraints of Christianity are utilizing all the force they can muster to drive the teachings of the Scriptures from the American culture.

The contest is not between liberal and conservative, between right wing and left wing, between totalitarianism and democracy, it is between good and evil.

God’s people are sheep. They still are hoping that somehow they will be able to hold back the tide of evil in America. They still envision America as a Christian nation in which a few liberal politicians are stirring up trouble.

The old America is vanishing rapidly. The new America, the America under the influence of Antichrist and the spirit of religious delusion, has already conquered. Spiritual wickedness is rapidly expanding its borders.

Professing themselves to be wise, some of the intellectual leaders of America have become fools—dishonest, immoral fools. They are not intellectually honest. They are propagandists, peddling their humanistic religion. They claim to examine facts dispassionately. They do nothing of the kind.

In the academic circles of the universities, there are many conscientious, kind, generous people. They are attempting to treat morality as though it were another science to be mastered in the hope of producing a more fruitful civilization. They are failing miserably for two reasons: (1) only God understands human nature and can improve it; (2) there is an army of evil spirits that is using these well-intentioned scholars to bring about Satan’s desires in the earth.

The struggle to bring peace and justice to the earth will not attain victory as the brain of man seeks to overcome sociological problems. The tragedies of mankind will not yield to human effort no matter how selfless, how benevolent. Rather, a battle is being fought between two powers, between spiritual titans.

The gentle scholar, dabbling in the theories of libertarianism, is a pawn of Satan. The innocent student, hoping to find success by inviting a spirit guide into his consciousness, has been duped. The immature Christian, seeking to become wealthy through using faith and imaging, has been deceived by the enemies of his soul.

The humanists, the libertarians, the theorists of democracy, are often vicious proponents of anti-God dogma. They do not seek truth, they seek to remove all restraints on human conduct so they can indulge themselves in the lusts of their flesh. Their hostility toward the Gospel is no more idealistic, no more virtuous than this.

They profess to champion freedom of expression. But the views of those who oppose them are disdained and crushed, not always by the bayonet but by more subtle means: by the educational theorists in the teacher colleges; by the media; by the judiciary; by those in political power.

In Russia, the children are not allowed to read the Bible in the public school classroom (although we understand that this has changed recently). In America, the children are not allowed to read the Bible in the public school classroom. The Christian school is permitted to exist in America, at least to the present hour. But many American Christians are too poor to pay the tuition of a private school. Their tax money goes to support a school system that is attempting to destroy everything Christianity stands for.

If America does not repent and assist the Lord’s people in this hour of spiritual darkness, it is not at all impossible that when the Lord comes, America will prove to be one of the goat nations.

We who love the Lord do not fret ourselves concerning the monstrous lie that parades under the name of science, of enlightenment, of freedom of expression. Our King will return and cleanse the lie from the earth. He will avenge Himself upon those who hate His ways and His people.

The doctrine of Antichrist, that man can govern his life by using his own mind, is as fierce and as fast as a leopard; as powerful as a bear; as threatening as a lion. Who can wage war against it?

The Communist empire of today is discovering people want freedom of expression. No oppressive government will be able to hold down people forever. The peoples of the earth are beginning to demand their “rights.” (Since this article was first written, there appears to be some genuine movement toward democracy in Russia, in fulfillment of our prediction.)

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. (Revelation 13:3)

It is not impossible that America, which appears to be one of the heads of libertarian thinking, will be grievously wounded in the near future. The judgment of God is on America, and on other nations as well, because of the blood that has been shed at the hands of abortionists. The southern border of America is unprotected. Perhaps the terrorist nations already have the date marked on their calendar when they will strike by sabotage, and by missiles from the south, followed up by Russian missiles from both oceans. It might be possible then for Russia to demand the surrender of England and in one moment attain mastery over the continent of Europe and the remainder of the world.

But the “deadly wound was healed”! It is not in Satan’s interest to permit the destruction of America, because America is a purveyor of his filth via the television programming that originates in Hollywood and New York.

And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (Revelation 13:5)

God will keep a strict chain on Antichrist. It is God who gives authority and power to Antichrist, and it is God who will bring an end to this abomination. The forty-two months refer to the three and one-half years of the second half of Daniel’s seventieth week, the period of the reign of Antichrist and the destruction caused by the great tribulation.

Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:6)

We are experiencing this blasphemy today. The Western nations at one time maintained a respect for God. Today, freedom of expression is being used as an excuse for blaspheming Jesus. We see this in the movie industry, and also in the arts as painters blaspheme the Lord in their works. This is happening in America and the libertarians are clamoring that the artists must be free to express themselves—even to the point of blaspheming God, His name, His dwelling place, and those who dwell in Heaven.

It is taking place today!

It is not clear to what extent Antichrist will be able to reach into the heavens. Think about the following:

And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.
He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down [profaned]. (Daniel 8:10,11)

It is likely that Antichrist will be able to interfere with the prayers of the saints, hindering them, oppressing them, deceiving them.

In time past, we would test the spirits by asking them if Jesus is Lord, or if Christ has come in the flesh. The writer believes that these tests are no longer sufficient, for Antichrist is reaching into the heavens and exalting himself as Christ. We cannot trust any simple formula. We must pray diligently and consistently in the name of the Lord Jesus, and then watch carefully the fruit of what we say and do. We must be especially careful concerning prophecy and personal “words.” It is our opinion that numerous Christians, even experienced saints, are uncritically accepting personal prophecies and “words” under the mistaken assumption that because they believe in Jesus, or say the name of Jesus, or speak in tongues, they cannot be deceived.

It might have been true in time past that the sincere Christian could not be deceived. This no longer is the case. The spirit of deception is here. God has given great authority to Antichrist.

Why would God empower evil? The same reason a doctor vaccinates an individual. The introduction of disease into us by vaccination causes the antibodies in our system to create immunity to the disease. God is vaccinating humanity with evil. God’s purpose is to cause Christ to act as an antibody, creating immunity in the sons of God. If we were not vaccinated with evil, we would remain innocent. Like the child who never has been sick, we would be extremely vulnerable to the sickness of evil. God is deliberately exposing us to every facet of Satan’s personality so through the greatest of all Antibodies, Christ, we can become eternally immune to iniquity—to all that is in Satan.

It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. (Revelation 13:7)

God is giving Antichrist the ability to wage a successful war against the saints as well as authority over the nations of the earth.

Why would God enable Antichrist to overcome the saints? Because this is one of the means God will use to bring forth the Bride without spot or wrinkle. We grow in Christ both from our blessings and our sufferings. Some of our most valuable transforming experiences come about through our sufferings and humiliations.

We are to follow the cloud of blessing when we can see and understand, and the fire of God’s judgment, His unchanging Word, when He guides us through the darkness.

If anyone has an ear, let him hear. (Revelation 13:9)

Some are hearing from the Lord today. It seems the majority are not. Let us beseech God for deliverance from the deceptions with which Satan is filling the earth.

He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:10)

The verse above may have a literal fulfillment, speaking of physical prisons and metal swords. But it is also true in other areas as well that the saints are judged according to the judgment they exercise. Do we lead other people into spiritual bondage? Then we ourselves must be put in prison. Do we kill with the sword of the Word of God? Then we will be judged by the Word of God. We are not free to dispense judgment without suffering the same judgment.

If we want to survive the last days, we must cry to God for Divine patience and Divine faith.

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)

The first beast, Antichrist, comes from the sea of mankind. He is free-will, free-thinking, humanistic, libertarian, democratic government. He is man governing his own destiny. He is man expressing himself apart from Divine restraint. (God laughs at this!)

There is another beast. He is the False Prophet. He is the spirit of religious seduction. The second beast does not come from the sea of mankind, but from the earth, from the adamic soul. The second beast has “two horns like a lamb.” He displays power (horns) in the name of Jesus, the name of the Lamb of God. He speaks “as a dragon.” He speaks the words of Satan. The False Prophet comes in the name of Jesus, demonstrates a double portion of power in Jesus’ name, but speaks the words of Satan.

“For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:5)

The Pentecostal movement was clearly of God. The prayer, the holiness, the evangelism, were evidence of the Spirit of God. No believer who experienced the glory given during the first half of this century could doubt the Presence of the true God and His Christ.

The Charismatic movement does not appear to be cut from the same cloth. It has never been characterized by the travailing prayer, the cross-carrying obedience, the humility, the saintliness that was true of early Pentecost. Perhaps because of the lack of prayer and of the preaching of stern discipleship, the Charismatic movement has opened itself to deception.

As we have pondered the roots of the wholesale deception that has fallen on fundamentalist Christians, including the Charismatics, we have come to the conclusion that part of the problem began with first-century Gnostic antinomianism. Antinomianism is the teaching that the Christian salvation does not include keeping the commandments of God. It may be true that some of the Protestant Reformers, thinking and teaching during the rise of humanism and perhaps influenced by humanism’s stress on man becoming God, presented a doctrine of grace somewhat similar to antinomianism.

The Protestant Reformers, for example, were powerfully used of God to call us from the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. At the same time, while reacting against Catholic doctrine, Protestant Reformers overemphasized the role of faith and grace in the Christian redemption. The doctrine of the Reformers, as we understand it, was not balanced. It did not present godly behavior as the only true sign of Divine redemption.

The Reformers were contrasting faith with indulgences and penances, but this has evolved into a contrast of faith with righteous behavior.

In the middle of the 19th century, the pre-tribulation “rapture” deception entered as part of a theological scheme termed Dispensationalism. The stress on a “dispensation of grace,” the notion that a Gentile Church will be carried to Paradise whether or not the members keep the commandments of God, appears to us to be an outgrowth of antinomianism and the Reformation misinterpretation of the biblical “the just shall live by faith.” The tremendous doctrinal confusion attending Dispensationalism, especially its removal of the Jews from the Body of Christ, is bearing evil fruit to the present hour.

The neoantinomianism (lawlessness) derived from the apparent doctrinal excesses of the Reformation regarding the proper role of works in our salvation has made Christian thinking vulnerable to the philosophy of free will, of man as the center of all things.

The pre-tribulation “rapture” doctrine has found fertile ground because of the antinomianism of those who overemphasize grace, and because of the Western philosophy that man is God, that man ought never to suffer. The pre-tribulation rapturist observes the persecution of Christians that has occurred throughout Church history, the present-day torture of Christians in the Communist nations, and then declares that God loves the believer so much He will not allow him to suffer. This is blindness and confusion.

Now we see the False Prophet rising from the earth, the soul of religious man. Man has rejected the cross of suffering and God has sent a strong delusion on him.

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, (II Thessalonians 2:11)

There is a continuity from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The same God is calling for the same righteous behavior.

The demand for righteous, holy, obedient behavior is the same from covenant to covenant, although differing in details of observance. The new covenant differs in that much more Divine enablement (grace) is given to help us behave in a much more righteous, holy, obedient manner.

The Apostles of Christ would not recognize or understand the concept that the Christian salvation is a magic that enables man to please God apart from righteous behavior. The idea of a “dispensation of grace” that brings man to Paradise apart from the conversion of his personality is the delusion of present-day Christian teaching.

May God give us eyes to see how far removed the current lawless-grace-rapture-Gentile teaching is from God’s plan of salvation.

The Evangelical-Charismatic people have opened themselves to error, to doctrines they would have rejected had they been prayerful, cross-carrying, sternly obedient disciples.

God is God. Righteousness is righteousness. A saint is a saint. From Abel to the last person to be called of God, the righteous have lived by faith in God rather than faith in their own abilities. God never changes. Righteousness never changes. God has sent the Lord Jesus to forgive us and turn us away from our sin, not to serve as a perpetual covering for our sin, an alternative to righteous behavior.

Those who covet money have taught the believers that God is to be reverenced and not feared; that God loves them too much to allow them to suffer; that Christians are not required to keep the commandments of God; that God is a God of love and not of wrath. More serious deception has followed: God desires that His people be rich in worldly goods; we can manipulate the supernatural realm by faith, by picturing what we want and believing it into existence.

The next move of the spirit of religious delusion may be as follows: “Christians can set up the Kingdom of God now; we can gain political control, amass the material wealth of the world; fill the earth with a righteous behavior proceeding from our adamic personality apart from our death and resurrection in Christ.”

As part of the mass of deception, we have the doctrine that the Gentile Church is true Israel; God no longer has any use for His chosen people; Christians have no interest in the nation of Israel. This error is termed Replacement Theology—the Christian Church has replaced Israel in the plan of God.

In actual fact, the only members of the true Israel of God are the people who are abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Christian salvation began with the physical Jews and will conclude with an unprecedented physical and spiritual deliverance of the physical land and people of Israel. The Kingdom can come to earth only in the physical land of Israel, and God will save His chosen people, the Jews, through Christ.

One may notice a common denominator of these deceptions: they invite the believer to serve God as a doctrinally correct human being. They do not stress the heart of the Gospel, which is that we are to be crucified with Jesus so He may live in us.

Antichrist seeks to use the power of the Lamb to lift the curse of God from the earth.

Christ is waiting at the right hand of the Father until the Father decides that the time has come for the nations to be released.

Those who are of the False Prophet are filled with plans to use the gifts of God to benefit mankind; to “get people saved”; to build churches; to deliver people from whatever hinders them from doing and being what they desire.

Those who truly are of Christ have no plans. They wait patiently each day on their risen Lord—waiting for Him as He waits for the Father. The patient waiting for Jesus crucifies our adamic nature. The majority of the Christians are building their own kingdom while the godly remnant are waiting patiently for Jesus.

This is the difference between those who walk in the soul and those who walk in the Spirit of God.

And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. (Revelation 13:12)

There is coming an alliance between the deceived believers and the man-centered philosophies of the West. We have seen brief examples of this as Charismatic leaders have gone to the heads of nations to persuade them to be “born again.”

As far as we can tell, the Charismatic leaders do not reason with the political leaders, as did the Apostle Paul, of “righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.”

Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” (Acts 24:25)

Rather, they tell the leaders if they will just “accept Christ” they can speak in tongues, be a Christian, and have the world and God too.

Deluded Christians will support the libertarian-democratic form of government because it gives them “freedom of religion.” Christ never commissioned us to seek freedom of religion. He charged us to teach His commandments to all nations. It is God’s will that the Church provide the nations with the eternal moral law of God, not that the nations merely “permit” the Church to function without persecution.

It is the role of the Church to inform the governments of God’s laws. It is the role of government to protect those who obey God’s laws and to punish those who disobey God’s law. The government that does not punish evildoers (evildoers as defined by the Scriptures) is of no use and eventually will be removed by the Lord.

As we understand the Scriptures, deceived Christians (the False Prophet) will support libertarian-democratic government until all the world is seduced into the camp of Antichrist. Antichrist will succeed in deluding Christians until they are persuaded he is helping them with the Gospel. He will subsidize the churches and invite prominent clergymen into positions of influence.

The seduced believers will support libertarian-democratic government with signs and wonders.

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. (Revelation 13:13)

Compare:

“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)

At first, the deceived Christian leaders may attempt to placate the remnant of true saints, seeming to agree with them and sympathizing with their cry for holiness. But when it becomes evident that the remnant will never compromise with a secular government, the deluded leaders of the churches will drive the true saints from society, declaring they are fanatics, misfits, ignorant—the destroyers of the bright new civilization that is coming into view.

He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:15)

The seduction of Christians into the supernatural practices of imaging and creating reality by thinking and speaking what the individual desires, is extremely serious. It is paving the way for the giving of spiritual life to libertarian, humanistic government.

Some Christian leaders have been deceived into believing that the wealth of the world will be given into the hands of Christians. They currently are seeking political power. They believe that, through faith and positive thinking, they will be able to rid the world of evil.

What such leaders must understand is that it is not the role of the Church to govern. The Church’s role is to define good and evil, to teach the rulers as much as possible, to bear witness of the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of the Lord and of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth, but not to enforce the doing of good—not yet!

It may take place that America, in its desperation concerning crime and anarchy, will elect a Christian president. If this happens, it will fulfill the concept presented in Revelation chapter 13 — the giving of spiritual life to the libertarian beast. The new president might be one who believes that through the supernatural practices of imaging and speaking words of faith, he can enable the country to prosper.

This would be the marriage of the seduced Christian to libertarian government. Such a marriage might create the most formidable of all governments, eventually being able to force all people to conform to its dictates.

He [the False Prophet] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, (Revelation 13:16)

If a Christian president desired to enforce Old Testament morality on the populace, his first task would be to dismantle libertarian government and install a monarchy, a strong rulership that would encourage righteousness and punish wickedness according to the Bible standard.

But an American president would not be able to install a monarchy to act in opposition to the Constitution. Nearly every power in America would rise up to prevent any movement to implement Bible morality. He would have to murder millions of people in order to force his will on the nation.

Therefore, the Christian president would be forced to use his spiritual abilities and the spiritual abilities of those who were supporting him to give life to a system of government that is hostile to the Scriptures—and this precisely is what is described in the chapter we are studying.

The Christian president then would be only a few steps away from becoming the Antichrist that the Scriptures warn us against.

The separation of the godly remnant from the remainder of Christians is at hand, we believe, and those who desire to be part of the remnant must seek the Lord with all their heart. The spirit of delusion is extremely subtle and only the most prayerful, the most diligent in following Jesus, will escape the deception crafted by Satan through the False Prophet.

If we want to be kept by the Lord Jesus during the period of temptation, we must be careful to keep the word of His patience.

Because you have kept [guarded] My command to persevere, I also will keep [guard] you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

The False Prophet, the spirit of religious delusion, will become involved in world economics. We see the forerunner of this as Charismatic leaders are “prophesying” that God will give the material wealth of the world into the hands of the Christians.

He [the False Prophet] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16,17)

There will be heavy persecution in the days to come. The lukewarm believers will never be able to turn their back on civilization and flee with their families to wilderness areas of the earth.

Antichrist, in his cunning, will not face the Christians with alternatives in which good and evil are clearly defined. The choice will be subtle. “All we are requiring is that you not stress that people are born evil. We believe if the child is raised with love he will be good and do good. We want you to continue to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and at the same time remember you are part of a greater society. Use your gifts to help people, not to throw gloom on them by calling them sinners and threatening them with Hell.

“If you will come along with us and join the happy family of mankind, thinking and speaking what is positive, helpful, a blessing to all men, you will have need of nothing. Of course, if you continue with your outdated idea of a God who hates people and wishes to harm them, then we cannot permit you to participate in our economic program. You will not be allowed to buy or sell in our cities.”

How do you think an average American churchgoer would respond to this kind of choice?

It is imperative that now—in the present hour—we prepare for our exodus from society. We are not of the world, we are the enemy of the world system. We must turn away from the media, from participation in the culture, as much as possible, and view ourselves already as hated and rejected by the world.

We are not speaking of foolish, fanatical, mentally unstable behavior on the part of Christians—many of whom are excellent workers in positions of responsibility in the world; nor are we suggesting that Christians go to wilderness areas now and engage in elaborate survival programs.

Rather, we are speaking to the consistent, diligent believer who will pray and seek the Lord for wisdom concerning the rejection and exile that surely are on the way. The Book of Revelation was written while the Apostle John was in exile. Are we better than he?

We enjoy the present opportunity to serve the Lord without persecution. But we also keep ourselves mentally prepared to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ. In no way will we permit ourselves to be deluded by the teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture. The purpose of this lie is to keep God’s people from preparing themselves for the evil day that even now is upon us. We are to put on the whole armor of God so we may be able to stand in the age of moral horrors just ahead.

Now is the time for the firstfruits of the Bride to serve God with a perfect heart. Now is the time for those who know their God to be strong and perform exploits.

After having described the worst condition to occur on earth, which is the seducing of Christians until they join with humanistic government in enabling earth’s peoples to be their own god, the Holy Spirit points to the best of all conditions—the existence of a remnant of Christians who love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

These have waited patiently for the Lord until their own will has been brought perfectly into subjection. Instead of having “I am my own god” written in their forehead, they have God’s name engraved in its place. The writing of God’s name in their forehead means they behave and think according to God’s will; not their own will, not the government’s will, not Satan’s will, but God’s will.

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)

Mount Zion is the place of war, the area from which the remainder of Jerusalem is defended.

While the lukewarm fall into the trap of Antichrist, and the mass of God-fearing believers are slain for their testimony, a remnant will walk before the Lord in power and glory. There shall be deliverance in Mount Zion, in the remnant whom the Lord will call.

Any Christian can choose to be part of the victorious remnant, but God requires total obedience. Some will pay the price and stand throughout the darkness. They will be translated into glory when the Lord returns.

During the period of danger, the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to every nation.

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people (Revelation 14:6)

Numerous souls will be washed in the blood of Jesus, and then be slain during the great tribulation.

And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)

Babylon, organized religion, will be destroyed by the nations. Although the organized church will have done everything in its power to gain the support of the world, the world will finally realize that religion has betrayed its God-given role of guiding the nations in morality and that the religious organization itself is being cursed by God because of its sin. Then the world will turn on the massive denomination and destroy it.

“And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. (Revelation 17:16)
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (Revelation 14:8)

A fearful fate awaits the people who turn away from God and accept the idea that man is the master of his own fate, and then think and act apart from the fear of God.

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,
“he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone [burning sulfur] in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (Revelation 14:9,10)

Now comes one of the most marvelous of the promises of the Scriptures.

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” (Revelation 14:12,13)

In spite of the hideous spiritual darkness that is rolling in on us as an ugly, depressing cloud, in spite of the promises of the politicians, educators, and deluded Christian leaders, in spite of all that Satan can bring forth on the earth, the Lord Jesus will stand steadfastly with His saints.

One of the hardest—but most fruitful—tasks we will ever be called on to perform will be to patiently wait for the Lord during the spiritual activity of the last days. Many “mountains” fume in us! So many religious leaders present this or that plan for spiritual success!

Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain [Zion, the Body of Christ] which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the LORD will dwell in it forever. (Psalms 68:16)

There is a multitude of spiritual “winds” and “earthquakes.” The true prophet knows that there will always be an uproar when the Lord prepares to move.

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; (I Kings 19:11)

The experienced saint waits, waits, waits until he hears from the Lord.

and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (I Kings 19:12)

Many voices are speaking! The coming danger can be seen by the wise, and some are making preparations without being guided by the Spirit. There will be many opportunities to sin, and opportunities also to gain status and advantage in spiritual matters.

The authority of Antichrist will extend into the heavens, and even staunch, experienced Christians will wrestle with deception for years. God will give the saints into the hand of Satan that they may be sifted as wheat. Burning passions, subtle persuasions, dreadful threatenings—all will face the believer in the coming days.

Only those who wait patiently for the Lord, for the still, small voice of God’s Lamb, will be able to escape the spiritual destruction that is descending on us.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” From this time forth; from the time that man begins to make himself God and to act and think independently of God.

Blessed are those who die in the Lord. What does it mean to die in the Lord? It means to allow the Holy Spirit to slay our adamic nature and to fill us with Divine Life—the Life of Christ.

Jesus warned us that the night would come when no man can work.

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:4)

A dark night of spiritual evil is falling on the earth. Prior to this time, those who were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit could perform God’s works. Soon it will not be possible to do Gospel work, the oppression will be so heavy. Only those who have died in the Lord, who are filled with Divine Life, will be able to stand.

“Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors.” Those who today give their life to Jesus, taking up their cross and following Him, will be able to rest in the day of trouble. The world will be in flames, but Christ-filled saints will be singing and dancing in the heights of Zion.

It is time to enter the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles. It is time to lay aside our own life so we may be filled with the Life of Jesus. It is time to press on past salvation, past the baptism with the Holy Spirit, to the fullness of the rest of God.

“And their works follow them.” As heat and light follow the sun, so blessing and fruitfulness will follow those in whom the Lord is dwelling.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage [to God].
As they pass through the Valley of Baca [weeping], they make it a spring [of life]; the rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion. (Psalms 84:5-7)

Through the darkest of nights, those in whom the Lord Jesus is dwelling will bring God’s Light to whoever calls on the name of the Lord.

A man [the King and His princes] will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2)

When the saints are crucified and Christ is living in them, they will be a sanctuary for the righteous of the earth who fear God. This will be true throughout the darkest hour, during the great tribulation, during the hour of temptation. There is nothing Satan can do to overthrow the saint who has been crucified with Christ and whose life Christ is. Such Christians will assist many during the days of evil.

“And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. (Daniel 11:33)

There always will be deliverance in the remnant—through to the coming of the Lord.

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion [the saints] and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:32)

There is no power, no authority in the heavens, on the earth, or in the regions under the earth’s surface, that can overthrow the Lord Jesus Christ or those whose life He is.

Many games are being played in churches today. There is much deception. During the coming days, numerous Christians will fall: some through despair, some through depression, some through deception, some through their own personal ambition, some through disillusionment with a morally weak ministry, some through fear, some through covetousness or economic worries.

There will be wars, famines, diseases, earthquakes, financial disruption. In the midst of all this will occur the latter-rain revival—an outpouring of God’s Spirit without precedent in history.

Sin will abound. Satan’s entire filthy personality will be portrayed in the thinking, words, and actions of people. The earth will be filled with fallen angels and demons.

Many believers will be slain. Finally, Antichrist will be revealed and take his place in the restored Temple in Jerusalem. Organized religion will have its headquarters at the site of ancient Babylon, on the Euphrates River. The remnant of Christians and the devout Jews will be forced into hiding.

There will take place a great tribulation during which multitudes will be slain. After this, there will be signs in the sun and moon, and the heavens will shake. The oceans and seas will roar. Mankind will be amazed and will tremble at the chaos taking place.

When the darkness has attained its climax, the light of God will shine in the remnant left alive on the earth. Then will appear in the heavens the sign of the Son of Man. Every person in whom Christ is dwelling will be caught up to be with Him forever.

Chosen saints will pour out the bowls of God’s wrath on the earth. People will be staggering about in the unbearable, unrelieved heat with huge cancers on their skin. God will not give them the spirit of repentance and they will curse God because of their agony. (What a contrast with the bliss of the original garden of Eden—a contrast caused by inviting Satan into the earth!)

Down from the clouds will thunder the Lord and His army, ready to cleanse the earth, to rebuild the destroyed cities. The Son of God will be revealed in the sons and they will lift the curse from mankind, delivering Jerusalem from the invading nations and governing the nations of the saved with love but also with total firmness. All democratic, libertarian, man-centered government will be removed from people. They will be ruled by the righteous King, Jesus through His princes. He is King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. (Isaiah 32:1)

Every knee in the spiritual and physical realms shall bend and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord, giving glory to God the Father. Blessed indeed is the person who, knowing all this, receives Jesus—not only as his Savior but as absolute Lord of all he thinks, says, and does.

Today the Lord Jesus stands at the door of each heart. Those who hear His voice and open the door will discover a banqueting table in their own soul. There the Lord and they will dine on the riches of Christ. The enemies of God and man will fill the earth, but Christ will spread a table for His own in the very presence of the enemy.

Blessed is every one who dies in the Lord, who chooses to be crucified with Christ so Christ may tabernacle in him. The Father and Christ will come to each individual who keeps Christ’s word and will make Their abode with him.

The “Tabernacles experience” is the provision God has made for those who love Him during the wickedness and oppression of the end-time.

Those who choose to make the secret place of the Most High their eternal dwelling place will be perfectly safe throughout the things to come—the danger and tribulation, protection and glory, which are at hand.

(“Things to Come”, 3181-1)

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