What next?

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 

    

The idea behind gaining understanding of the plans of God is to work backwards. If we wind back the scriptures, we will be able to see the end from the beginning in context to where we are in the scheme of things. No matter what has been related to us in prophecy by the prophets, we only see glimpses of what is actually taking place in relation to scriptures. Added to this, there are so many voices out there that it is hard to discern who is speaking accurately of the times we live in. Therefore, we struggle with the idea of what to expect next. It is confusing to say the least yet important and not impossible to understand. 

 

The actual events that have taken place recently and which are taking place on earth now, add confusion to the prophetic. No one has predicted with clarity events that have taken place such as the Twin Towers, Terrorism at large, the flights that disappeared, the wars of the Middle East known as the Arab spring, the current conflicts of North Korea and USA etc. The prophecies have spoken about them but few have heard about them to do anything about them. It has been hidden from the public and only the discerning are aware of these events. What is even more interesting, is the inability of governments to predict what comes next and are ill equipped to handle the disasters that are taking place. Added to this, the close proximity of occurrences of events do not allow for easy recovery to take place. Nations carry on but deep wounds have been laid bare on the hearts of people who do not understand. Man is confused to say the least and yet will not turn to God for His salvation. They are still trying to work it out on their own. In the light of the gospel and the teaching regarding the Church, we too have to understand what comes next or else we will be taken by surprise. The Jews had become lazy and confident in their faith to the extent that they ignored the coming of the Messiah. When He did come, they were perplexed, angry and crucified Him. What of the Church? We have received the Messiah, received the promised Holy Spirit and still live in sin, apathy and disregard of holiness and righteousness. We are still crucifying Christ. The warnings in the book of Revelation are clear that a similar fate will be met by the Churches if they do not repent and turn from their wicked ways. What has changed? It seems we are no better than the Jews in our behaviour toward God. We are as self indulgent and careless as they were.

 

So, what comes next? What comes next is already happening with a clear intention of a final manifestation for the Church. Many do not believe in the rapture or the disappearance of countless numbers of Christians in a supernatural event. What if this event that has been predicted does not happen? What then? How will you behave in the light of continuing to live on earth and what will be your expectations in the face of current world events? We know what comes next because we have been warned as Christians. Will your Christian view point and beliefs hold fast? Whatever comes next does not really matter in the light of our faith just like how Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego answered King Nebuchadnezzar. It did not matter to them whether God delivered them or not or whether they lived or not. They knew their God. However, we need to behave in a manner that prepares our hearts and are busy about the Father’s business because of what is coming next. Do you know your God in the light of the deceptions that are taking place within the Church, the compromise and sin? Are you able to keep yourself from those things and say, “Whether God delivers me from this present evil world or not, I will not submit to satan or serve evil”?

The prophetic events that are yet to come, in my opinion, involve a long time frame. The way I see it, a sequence of events have to take place. I believe they are as follows:

  1. A worldwide revival has to take place
  2. There has to be a major falling away of the church 
  3. The Church has to be taken out of the way in rapture
  4. The anti-christ has to appear
  5. Great persecution and death has to take place through the anti-christ’s reign
  6. Jesus has to come back and destroy him
  7. Jesu will set up His thousand year reign on earth
  8. Then the attack of Gog and Magog on Jesus will be attempted
  9. Final destruction of the world will take place
  10. A new heaven and a new earth will be created
  11. Finally, a new temple will be established on earth with God in it

 

So, in the light of all this, where are we and how do we prepare our own heart’s to meet our maker? I know, I will not be around on earth to see most of the events I have described above. Therefore, I believe it is important for Christians to live like the following verses describes we should. James 4.13:16 - 13 ·Some of you say [L Come now, you who say], “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” 14 But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a ·mist [vapor; puff of smoke]. ·You can see it [It appears] for a short time, but then it ·goes away [vanishes]. 15 ·So, [or instead] you should say, “If the Lord ·wants [wills; wishes], we will live and do this or that .” 16 But now you are ·proud [arrogant;  probably referring to their plans for the future] and you brag [boast]. All of this bragging [boasting] is wrong [ evil; wicked;].

 

I am determined to make the most of my life in expectation of the best from the Lord. I do believe we will see much more disaster and turmoil in the world in the days to come. The downhill slide has begun in earnest for the world and I cannot see anything else than the prophetic happening in all earnestness. The judgements of God in particular will accentuate events on earth along with consequences for sin. Are they the one and the same? I think it is important to realise that they are not. There are pre-judgements of God that are known as the curses. These are established and operate outside of Christ. Then there are judgements of God that come as a result of a decision by God to end something like in the case of Sodom & Gomorrah. The consequences vary from robbed blessings, attacks of the enemy and even death because the wages of sin is death. Annanais & Sapphira paid the ultimate price for lying to the Holy Ghost which was a sin. They and others in the Bible suffered as a result of sin. Many die and are sick because they take part of communion erroneously. These are all consequences for sin and fall under the category of pre-judgements of God. Then there are the judgements of God that judge between brothers and sisters and the daily happenings in the Christian’s life.

 

The more I warn people about this, the more I realise how ignorant and blatant people are who lack the understanding of the times. On the one hand, people in the world who are unsaved do not have a clue about the prophetic judgements of God or consequences for sin. Many Christians on the other hand, may or may not have knowledge of these things and go about their daily life oblivious to God’s judgements. Every action has a re-action and a consequence. There is no doubt about this Universal law. Nothing escapes cause and effect. The only saving grace in this principle is the love, mercy and grace of God. So, therein is hope and an expectation that my end will not be cut off. Pro_24:14  So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.  When I build my expectation on hope and trust in God, my expectation will not be cut off. Therefore, it does not matter what comes next. I am safe in the hands of the Lord. The only thing I have to make sure of is that I do not cause what comes next in a negative way but move in a way that the Holy Spirit directs me which is prophetic. 

 

When the world sees the Church standing in righteousness they realise that it is by choice. Many who call themselves the Church do not make this choice and conform to this world and submit to the devil. That too is prophetic. Whatever comes next according to scripture, let us make sure we are aware of what the Holy Spirit is saying to us and be led by the Spirit. Joseph, Mary’s husband was led through dreams of impending danger. He heeded God’s warnings and fulfilled the prophetic. I know many who have not heeded the call of God on their lives and have paid a big price or have lamented their lives to the grave because of it. 

The prophetic events in the last days is significant to us on many counts

  1. The call of God on our lives individually and corporately
  2. The signs of the times in relation to scripture means God is speaking more strenuously. We need to hear more quickly.
  3. Our knowledge of the judgements of God that are coming will give us an edge in preparation for them if we are around
  4. We must hasten to save souls and correct lives that live in error
  5. We must watch and pray toward the saving of our souls
  6. Not losing our reward through laziness and ignoring the times.

 

Lots of love

Pastor Noble

22/10/17

 

 

Calvary Assembly