Hello, and welcome to Faith is Hope,
I’m Dave.
Preparing for the Tribulation, how should we prepare for that time of great and terrible tribulation?
Okay, I have to ask, why do so many Christians, fear tribulation? I mean Jesus told us about it, and his disciples told us about it, so it’s not like we didn’t know it was coming. So why fear it? I mean Christians would rather run away, would rather be raptured away than face that time of tribulation, why? What are you afraid of? I’ve heard it said that we only fear what we don’t know. But if you’ve come to Christ. If you’ve accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. If you’ve accepted his gift of forgiveness and salvation, then what don’t you know? Maybe you don’t know if you really are truly saved. That sounds more like a problem with faith.
So maybe you don’t have faith in God’s promise? Maybe you don’t have faith in Christ’s gift from the cross. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11: 1) See, I know that I’m saved not by my works, but by my faith lest I boast. You can read about that in Ephesians 2 starting around verse 8.
Or maybe it’s death that you fear because you don’t know what death is? Okay, so here you go. Physical death is nothing. That’s right, it’s nothing. There’s no sight, sound, smell, taste, or feeling, nothing in the grave. Not even time exists in death. Want proof? In Job 14 where he’s talking about a man who dies, starting in verse 21 “His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.” How about Ecclesiastes 9: starting at verse 5 “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished,m and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.” We were created from the dust and to dust we shall all return. Do you think that the dirt beneath your feet knows when you’re walking on it? Or that blood has been shed on it?
But physical death is not spiritual death. In Luke 16 Jesus is talking about a rich man and a poor man Lazarus, starting in verse 22 “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
If you are trying to save your butt, you risk losing your soul. So ask yourself, is it worth it? Is time here on earth worth eternity in hell? I have been pronounced clinically dead three times. I’ve seen what physical death is. It’s not what you see in those paranormal ghost-hunting shows. So what do we need to do to prepare for this time of tribulation? Well, that’s simple, read what Jesus and his disciples tell us about this time, the warnings, and what they tell us to do.
First, understand the timeline that is laid out for us. What must happen, and in what order they must happen? I laid all that out in my last podcast, but I’ll share it again.
1st Corinthians 15 – starting at verse 50 (ESV) “I tell you this, brothers; flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
In 1st Thessalonians 4 starting at verse 15 (ESV) “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
The sound of the trumpet.
Revelation 11 – starting at verse 15 (ESV) “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were only seven angels by the way, so this is the seventh it’s the last one. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets, the saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Do you understand what that means? Jesus Christ defeats Satan and the evil of the world. And God’s kingdom is reestablished here on earth.
We are going to face times of tribulation but we are not going to face God’s wrath. 1st Thessalonians 5:9 (ESV) “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Look, people have faced terrible, horrific times in the past. Look at the plagues of Egypt. How about Noah? If you weren’t on that boat, you died. How about Napoleon? Hitler and World War 2. Stalin, Mao, and the starvation that to this day plagues large portions of Africa. Slave labor in Africa, Russia, and China.
You fear what you don’t know, but if you would open your eyes, and see the truth. If you would open your ears and hear the truth. Then you would know the truth. Stop listening to the lies of the world and start knowing the truth given to all of us by God. It’s all right there in His word, the bible.
You don’t have to believe me, I don’t want you to just take my word for it. Look it up for yourself. Find out what God has to say about it, rather than some pastor, preacher, or priest. Put your trust in the Lord, not man.
Hey, I’m Dave – Join me next time when I talk about “What Comes After” – and until then, I’ll see you at the Rest Area.
