You can listen to this message on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z1POQPtIW2o
“Therefore, be
on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in
the morning— in case
he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What
I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” (Mark 13:35-37)
The title of my message today is,
Be Prepared. This is as important a message as I have ever preached. It is
as necessary and timely a message as I have ever preached.
First, I want to say I am not a prophet. I do not have any special knowledge or insight into the future. But because I see things occurring in our country, and because I have some knowledge of end time Bible prophecy – limited as my knowledge is – I feel it important to bring you this message today.
I
believe we are living in the last hours of the last days before Jesus returns.
Societal, cultural, technological, and political changes are occurring at such
breakneck speed, I cannot hardly take it all in.
Each of these changes, when viewed separately, can easily be interpreted by those knowledgeable about Bible prophecy as pointing to the fulfillment of end-time prophecy. But when taken TOGETHER, they form for me an unmistakable pattern of prophetic unfolding.
And because I feel an urgency about the times in which we are living, I am compelled to bring you this message today.
Several days ago, I read a report on Breitbart
News of a Catholic Cardinal from Mexico who is warning his flock about what he
considers a rapidly approaching ‘New World Order’ under the guise of the global
pandemic restrictions.
He said global government and business leaders want a great ‘reset’
as they call it, a reset that will ultimately lead to a single world government,
with a single currency and economy. And they want a single religion, that will
certainly NOT be Christianity.
He said this pandemic is being used to impoverish nations and destroy their
economies. The pandemic is also being used to close churches and limit the
number of people who can worship. But above all, political leaders are using
the pandemic to create terrible fear among the people.
And when people live with fear they can be more easily led as sheep.
I
believe the Cardinal is recognizing a fulfillment of the prophecies spoken of
in the books of Daniel, the Gospel apocalyptic chapters, and the book of
Revelation.
Listen to this section from the 13th chapter of the Book of Revelation. The chapter highlights the appearance in these last days of the unholy trinity of the Dragon (who is the devil) the Beast (the Antichrist), and the False Prophet, John tells us:
“And the dragon (the devil, see Revelation 12:9) stood on the sand
of the seashore. Then I saw a beast (the Antichrist) coming up out of
the sea . . . And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and
great authority . . . It was also given to him to make war with
the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and
people and tongue and nation was given to him. . . . Then I saw another beast (i.e.
the false prophet) the coming up out of the earth . . . He performs great
signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in
the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth
because of the signs which it was given him to perform . . . And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the
free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on
their forehead, and he provides that no one
will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has
the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his
name.
What Americans have recently witnessed regarding
massive censorship of speech and the ominous restrictions on businesses and
even family gatherings are only the beginning of what we will endure as the months
move on. We only have to look at the history of fascism, Nazism, and communism
to recognize where this is all headed.
Here is a headline from a January 15th Breitbart report: Big Tech Coalition is Developing a Digital COVID Vaccination Passport.” The gist of the story is that once that digital passport is developed, people will be unable to travel, and perhaps enter stores and malls and other places without proof that they have been vaccinated against the COVID virus.
And Christians STILL
think we are not within whispering distance of Revelation 13?
Okay, and that is enough of the bad news. My purpose today is not to generate
paralyzing fear in our hearts. My sole purpose is to remind us of the
LIGHT. It is in that LIGHT alone that we find direction, comfort, and
assurance of ultimate victory.
So, how
then shall we prepare ourselves for possible persecution in these last moments
of these last days? I want to recommend
to you three preparations we need to make before such things happen: 1) Know
Jesus. 2) Know your Bible. 3) Know you are saved.
Number
one. Know Jesus. Every so often I see a bumper sticker with this message: No
Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace.
It’s a simple message. If we know Jesus – really KNOW HIM, and not just know about Him, then we will have peace. But if we have NO Jesus, then we will not have the peace in dark days, a peace that He promises passes all understanding.
And let none of us EVER be content to think we know Jesus well enough. That
kind of hubris will get us nothing but trouble. Even the great apostle Paul
felt as if he didn’t know Jesus as he wanted to know Him. Here is what he wrote
to the Christians at Philippi:
I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. (3:8-10)
I hope you caught that. The great St. Paul cried out: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
My brothers and sisters in Christ – prepare for the persecution by learning to know Jesus as your best Friend. Know Him as your most intimate lover. Ask the Holy Spirit to burn into your soul these truths:
He promised to never turn away from you, to never leave you. NEVER. He will ALWAYS feed His flock like a good shepherd. He will gather the lambs in His arm and carry them in His bosom. And oh! He will gently lead the nursing ewes (Isaiah 40:11) – even through the storms that are gathering.
Seek to know Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit will supernaturally enlighten your heart to know Jesus in the depths of your soul as your Savior, as your champion who RESCUED you from the clutches of the prince of darkness – and who CONTINUES to guard you with His omniscient eye and omnipotent arm.
Know Jesus in His majesty and power to protect. John gives us this description of Jesus in that first chapter of Revelation: His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. (Revelation 1:14-17)
If that image speaks of ANYTHING it speaks of Jesus’ unspeakable purity, His fiery holiness, and His inescapable judgment of the wicked. He is majestic in His authority over every earthly authority. Isaiah tells us all of the nations of the world are as a speak of dust on God’s scales. (Isaiah 40:15) The psalmist tells us God derisively scoffs at the proud and arrogant world and national leaders who oppose His righteousness. (Psalm 2)
And Christian, THIS is your God and Father!
If we want to be better prepared for the dystopian society of the Antichrist – that society that may be within whispering distance of us – then we MUST KNOW JESUS better. And that will happen only through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit as we grow to know Jesus through His word. For good reason St. Jerome wisely noted: Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
Which brings us to the second principle of preparation: We must know the Scriptures better. I am NOT talking here of intellectual knowledge of the Bible.
The Pharisees and Sadducees knew the word of God inside and out. But their knowledge didn't change their hearts, and so they crucified the Word made flesh.
More currently, did you know Nikita Khrushchev, the blood-thirsty leader of the Soviet Union, memorized each of the four gospels as a child? But the message of Bible never moved from his head to his heart. Khrushchev prided himself on the scorn he had for God. After rising to power, he was a worse scourge to Christians than even Stalin.
It didn’t matter that Khrushchev had memorized large portions of the Bible. He died a militant atheist, never allowing the Word of God he’d memorized to change his life.
There is an eternally wide chasm between a simple academic knowledge of the Bible and a heart saturated with a love for the Bible and for the God of the Bible.
Let us not simply read and memorize Scriptures but ask the Holy Spirit to nourish and feed our souls with His supernatural word until it become to us “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalms 19:10).
Do we have time during our days to watch the television, or read the newspaper, or play board games, or bingo, or any of the other activities that fill our time? Then we have time to read the Bible. I’ve said it dozens of times before, it takes only a few minutes – ten minutes or less – to read a few chapters of Scripture AND reflect on its message. And how long does it take to select a verse or two – ONLY a verse or two – each WEEK to commit to memory?
Which now brings us to the third principle of preparation for dark days of persecution. In addition to knowing Jesus and knowing the Scriptures – KNOW for certain that because of your OBEDIENT faith in Christ’s atonement for your sins, KNOW you ARE saved.
I routinely meet Christians who tell me no one can be sure of their salvation. And I wonder, what Bible are they reading? Here are only a few of God’s PROMISES to anyone who comes to Christ for salvation and lives obediently to Him:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 6:37 Jesus said, “The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”
1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Ephesians 2:4,5, 8-9 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified (declared by God as guiltless) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
I could cite for the next hour Scripture after Scripture in which God assures anyone who trusts AND obeys Christ, that person is saved. When God tells us we are saved, we need to stop arguing with Him.
Let me stop a moment and comment about obedience to Christ. The Bible is quite clear regarding God’s definition of sin – which is usually foreign to our culture’s definition of sin. If we are living a lifestyle of sin of any kind, or if we refuse to forgive others their offenses against us, then we have no right to presume we are saved.
But if we practice, to the best of our frail human abilities, a lifestyle of godliness, confessing and repenting of sin as often as we are made aware of our sins, then God promises us His mercy to forgive us our sins and make us to stand before Him cleansed by the precious and sacrificial blood of Jesus.
This is a critical point. When we face persecution, even to the point of death, if we do not have the assurance that God will bring us safely to His kingdom, if we are not CERTAIN that we are saved, then the devil will slip his lies through that huge chink in our spiritual armor.
But if we are sure that we are sure that we are saved, then even if we come face to face with Satan himself, we will stand firm against all his lies. I think now of that text in Revelation 12 where we are told Christ’s servants overcame Satan himself “because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
As we enter 2021 and the troubles that may come to us before next Christmas, keep at the forefront of your minds how to prepare for the coming persecution: Know Jesus Better. Know the Bible better. And know for certain you are a SAVED because of your obedient faith in Jesus’ blood sacrifice for your sins.
And if you have not yet done so, then today is the day to start that preparation.
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