WHAT COMES NEXT FOR YOU?

For the present, by God’s grace and kindness, people can reject God but still receive the benefits of His common grace, including the enjoyment of loving relationships, natural and artistic beauty, and pleasure. However—and we need to be so warned—we live on borrowed time. This temporary situation will come to an abrupt end. Death but also judgement follows.

Have you accepted God’s offer of eternal life through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus? If not you need to seriously consider first the following two Scriptures then open or purchase God’s Word, a Bible. This is the only way you can discover the truth about the world in which we live and answers to the big questions, like why there is pain, death, and suffering. Below I have also given you three paragraphs from the Book of John to consider why you need to get a Bible if you do not have one. A New King James, ESV or a New American Standard are all excellent translations from my experience.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:27-28

This first Scripture reveals that Jesus is returning to earth to “save those who are eagerly waiting for him“. Revelation 8 and 15 reveal that He is also going to pour out His wrath upon those that have rejected Him with the trumpet and bowl judgments. God has given us many prophetic scriptures revealing the events that will proceed Jesus’ return. Those events are already happening, the first major one was the reestablishment of Israel as a nation back in 1948.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had doneAnd if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.Revelation 20:11-12,15

This second Scripture shows those that had died and been raised to life to face Jesus at the white throne judgement.

BOOK OF JOHN

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.John 1:1-5

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.John 1:9-13

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.John 1:14-18

MANY CHURCH GOERS WILL CHOOSE APOSTASY

Jesus tells us that faced with the choice of persecution unto death or apostasy, many churchgoers will, unfortunately, choose apostasy. They will deny Jesus is the son of God and live for a short period of time longer than their faithful brothers. In both Luke and Matthew, we learn they will even betray their brothers and sisters who remain faithful. This is a horrible and almost unthinkable situation. Jesus says the love of “many” will become cold. I believe the parable of the ten virgins reveals that as many as 50% of people in our churches are not born again and they will choose apostasy rather than martyrdom. At greatest risk may be those people who were expecting to be “snatched away” in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

Do you trust God enough to be with you through whatever He calls you to do even martyrdom? Do you remember what happened when Stephen was stoned to death?

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God… And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.Acts 7:55-56, 59-60

In the following passage in Philippians, Paul builds on Jesus’s instructions to be fearless in the face of persecution. First, he admonishes Christians to stand firmly together. It is this unity in faith that accomplishes God’s goal. Standing firm in persecution, a unified Church is living in a manner worthy of the gospel. Earlier Paul states that “to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). If we truly believe that Gospel message, what will we fear? When persecutors see Christians standing in absolute faith that a better life and reward is coming, it is a witness to the persecutors of both their coming judgment and the sure salvation of God. This is God’s battle plan. How many millions of our opponents will see this and be converted by this faithful act of witness?

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.Philippians 1:27-30

BIBLICAL END-TIMES PROPHECIES

“Because approximately half of the prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled in a literal way, it gives a proper intellectual basis for assuming that prophecy yet to be fulfilled will likewise have a literal fulfillment. At the same time, it justifies the conclusion that the Bible is inspired of the Holy Spirit and that prophecy goes far beyond any scheme of man but is instead a revelation by God of that which is to come to pass.

Consider carefully. If every prophecy concerning Jesus’ first coming was fulfilled, couldn’t we logically expect each prophecy concerning his second coming also to be fulfilled? Not one prophecy of Scripture has ever been wrong. Many have already been remarkably fulfilled. Some await fulfillment, but none has ever been shown to be erroneous.

There are 300 plus prophecies of Jesus first coming that were fulfilled but there are 2000 plus prophecies of Jesus’ second coming and the end of this age. This should be a sufficient warning that God wants us to be prepared for what is coming. God gives us incredible detail on the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return to this earth to put things right. What we discover from the prophecies is that as many as 50% of people in our churches particularly the denominational churches are not born again. They have never received the Holy Spirit which is the only sure sign of conversion. Hence, as the persecution of Christians increases we will see the great falling away Jesus prophesied would happen as persecution of Christians intensifies. The apostasy in the Institutional church denominations is sad but is the reason God had to bring tribulation to purify His church. Gay marriage and homosexual pastors is not OK.

The Bible says we can recognize the signs and the times. Why would signs be given, if they were not to be recognized? Wouldn’t you think God would desire to warn His people they were in the waning days of this age? The flood wasn’t sprung on Noah at the last minute. No, he was given a specific mission for that last bit of time before the prediluvian age ended. Noah had to hear the warning. Heed that warning. Realize it applied to him. Noah had to stop the debate and accept this judgment was coming. He had to confirm. He had to end the debate. So, think with me. What if our nearness to the last days could be confirmed, and the energy Christians spend debating it was refocused on the important rescue mission at hand? What if you could end the debate inside yourself?

What if the church could with certainty know time was ticking; therefore, the fun and games needed to stop, and the mission of Christ was to be taken seriously more than ever? What if followers of Christ could see the finish line? If they could, they’d understand it was time to shift to an all-out sprint. The slow steady pace would be history. That dreaming sounds good, but again—can we know? Yes. Scripture provides signs of the end of the age. Many for that matter. When one begins looking for Biblical signs of the last days, they find there is an overwhelming amount.

Some of the Biblical signs have existed in some way in almost every generation. Others are specific signs that will appear only at the time of the end. As someone pinpointing a location on a gridded map, the last days would be found when those general signs are precisely intersected with the specific ones. A convergence of the manifestation of signs is what we’re looking for.

The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.1 Peter 4:7

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