What the Church Must Do Now to Prepare for the Great Tribulation
If you are committed to the pre-tribulation rapture, it would probably be best if you read someone else’s message. You won’t get your ears tickled here. This message is not for you.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
This is a continuation of the two previous messages on ‘the abomination of desolation is set up in the church, not a temple in Jerusalem’.
Before I get to ‘what the church must do now’ part of this message, I need to show you the two choices we have. The Bible shows us these two choices that lay ahead of us in the last days. One is to be an overcomer. The other is to be apostate. There is no middle ground. All last day Christians will be in one of these two groups.
Nearly all Bible prophecy teachers fail to realize that there are two last day churches in the Bible. This leads to all kinds of misunderstanding and will keep you in the fog.
Most Bible teachers lump all the last day Christians into the same boat. There are two last day boats. The purpose of the book of Revelation is to tell us what is going to take place so we can prepare ahead of time.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near. Revelation 1:1-3
When discussing the last days, Jesus said this:
See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. Matthew 24:4-5
He then follows with this:
Behold, I have told you in advance. Matthew 24:25
Why did He say this? He is warning us in advance so we can prepare our hearts and minds for what is coming.
The two last day churches are Philadelphia and Laodicea.
Philly prepares in advance. Lao does not. Philly is rewarded with an open door and is kept from the hour of testing, the great tribulation. Lao has a closed door, and Jesus is standing outside the church, knocking on the door. She is disciplined and reproved during the great tribulation.
In the last message we talked about progressive theology in the last day church. This is Lao. In this message, we will talk about Philly, the overcomer church of the last days.
Daniel’s 70th week is divided into two three and a half year periods.
The first half is the final birth pangs before the coming of Messiah. The second half is the great tribulation.
The final birth pangs is the woman in Rev 12 in pain to give birth. She gives birth to the male child who will rule and reign with Messiah for a thousand years. The male child, the overcomers, are caught up, though the open door, into His presence.
Then the second half of Daniel’s seventieth week, the great tribulation, begins. The overcomers are the worshipers in the sanctuary in Rev 11. They have gone through the open door, the veil, into the sanctuary. The rest of the church, those who fail to enter during the final birth pangs, remain in the outer court. They are trampled underfoot during the tribulation. This is Lao. I discipline and reprove those whom I love.
The overcomers operate just like Jesus did during His three-and-a-half-year ministry.
When they are caught up, they do not physically go anywhere. The open door is to have the heavenly realm open to them. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened to Him. He operated in both the physical realm and the heavenly realm during His three-and a half-year ministry. He never did anything He did not see the Father doing.
Just like Jesus, the overcomers will operate in both the physical and heavenly realm for their three-and-a-half-year ministry. The church age began with the three-and-a-half-year ministry of Jesus and it ends with the three-and-a-half-year ministry of the overcomers. They are the ones who preach the gospel of the kingdom to the entire world and then the end will come.
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
We must be in Philly! But how? We must pass the final birth pangs!
The purpose of the final birth pangs is to separate those who will fall from the faith, from those who will not fall from the faith. The final birth pangs of the church have already begun. They will continue to increase in severity and frequency. This is what birth pangs do.
The following is what is about to take place.
Christians who preach the truth will begin to be set apart from the rest of society. Restrictions will be placed on where and how they are allowed to operate. It will start with little things like what has been going on with Jack Phillips in Colorado for the last decade. He has been targeted and persecuted for refusing to bake cakes for gay weddings. It has gone all the way to the supreme court. Even though the supreme court ruled in his favor, the persecution continues to this day.
Christians will be labeled as hate filled people. They will be portrayed as people who do not love one another but look down on others with a self-righteous and judgmental spirit.
Laws will be created that prohibit hate in society. These laws will be directed at Christians who preach the truth about the cross and sin. These laws will infiltrate government, schools, the media, businesses, and communities. The focus point of these laws will be LGBT.
Civil rights commissions and non-government organizations will be given more and more power to enforce these anti-hate laws. Eventually, these laws will be embedded into the ‘terms of agreement’ and ‘terms of service’ clauses for all employment and financial transactions.
Failure to comply with the ‘terms of agreement’ will result in closed checking accounts and credit cards. Credit will be revoked. Christians will not be able to work or pay their bills. Churches will not be able to make loan payments, pay utilities, staff, etc.
As progressive theology and homosexual sin continue to infiltrate the church, those who speak out against it will be arrested.
All the church will have to do is compromise their stand for the truth a little bit and they will be fine.
They will be forced to renounce homosexuality as sin. If they just agree that homosexuality is not only accepted by God, but blessed by God, they will be able to continue operating as usual.
Now let’s look at Philly.
I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Revelation 3:8
The Christians will be pressured to compromise His word. They will be pressured to deny His name. The overcomers in Philly will stand strong! They will not compromise His word or deny His name. His name means His presence. These Christians would rather lose everything than lose His presence!
Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 3:10
The overcomers will be those who keep the word of His perseverance. Perseverance! This means that even during intense times of persecution, they do not fall away! They refuse to compromise His word even when it costs them everything!
I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Revelation 3:11
The overcomers in Philly are admonished to hold fast what they have! There will be those who will try to take their crown. They will be government officials, others in the church, family members, friends at work, etc.
Why don’t you just get along? Why can’t you be like everyone else? Why do you hate so much? Aren’t you supposed to love everyone? Why do you judge others who are different from you? These are the questions that the overcomers will be pressured with every day.
Jesus said in the last days many will fall away and betray one another. Most of this betrayal will come from within the church. This is the purpose of the final birth pangs. To separate those who will stand strong from those who will fall away.
Elders must address this now!
The leaders of the church must tell the congregation what is coming. They must be told that if they do not accept and bless homosexuality, they will lose their jobs. They will lose their homes. They will lose family members and friends. The churches will lose their buildings. The leaders will be arrested.
Is the church ready for this today? Not even close! But we have time to prepare. I’m not talking about storing up food or ammo. I’m talking about preparing our hearts and minds for what is coming. Just acknowledging that this is coming changes everything!
We must understand that when these things come upon us, that it is a test!
The final birth pangs are a test! It’s a test to see if we will keep the word of His perseverance! The choice before us will determine if we have an open door placed before us or if we lose His presence. The overcomers will preach the gospel of the kingdom during the tribulation. The others will be disciplined during the tribulation. This is why Revelation starts with this promise:
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near. Revelation 1:3
The Latter Rain
Daniel’s seventieth week begins with the outpouring of the latter rain. The Christians who are in a position to receive the outpouring will have the perseverance to hold onto the truth. This is why it says that Philly has ‘a little’ strength. They are totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. They have His presence.
Laodicea, the progressive, arrogant last day church, will shun the latter rain outpouring. They will have lost His presence. They will fail the test. They will be disciplined during the tribulation. I discipline and reprove those whom I love. This is the purpose of the tribulation. To bring Lao back to Him.
May we all merit to be overcomers!
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 Matthew 16:24-26
Shalom