By David J. Stewart
Revelation 7:13-14, “...What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
People Will Be Saved After The Rapture
Millions of people will receive Jesus as their Savior during the 7-year Tribulation period. There is a false teaching circulating in churches today that once the Rapture happens, if you are not saved it will be too late to get saved. The Bible never teaches that.
What the Bible does teach is that God will send strong delusion to hardened Christ-rejecters. There are many people today who fully understand the gospel, yet they willfully reject it. The Bible teaches that the Antichrist will deceive MANY because they “RECEIVED NOT THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH, THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED” (2nd Thessalonians 2:10). People who haven't heard the gospel, or whose hearts haven't grown cold and hardened against God and the Bible, will still have an opportunity to get saved.
The Bible teaches that the sun will scorch men alive with the sun; yet they still won't repent of their murders, adultery and wickedness. Revelation 16:8-9, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.” Isn't that something? What does God have to do to get man's attention?
Revelation 16:3,18-21 prophecies of falling
hail weighing 120 lbs (a talent); and an earthquake so great that the
mountains of the earth will be shaken loose from their base, and the islands
will be submerged under water, and all the cities of the earth will crumble
in ruin. Yet, men will continue to blaspheme and refuse to repent toward
God.
The Two Witnesses
In Revelation 11:1-12 we learn about the Two Witnesses. They will preach the Word of God, as a fire burning in the hearts of men. We read in Jeremiah 17:9 that God's Word burned in Jeremiah's heart like a fire. Revelation 11:5 is not speaking of literal fire (as a fire-breathing dragon). The two witnesses won't spew fire from their mouth. They will preach the inspired Words of God from the King James Bible...
Revelation 11:5, “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.”
Revelation 11:1-4 teaches that these Witnesses will preach God's Word for 42 months (or 3 1/2 years). This is the first half of the Tribulation period. The angel tells John not to measure the outer court of the temple, because after 42 months the Antichrist will proclaim to be god and kill anyone who refuses to worship his IMAGE (Revelation 13:15).
This is a striking parallel to the 90 x 9 foot golden image which king Nebuchadnezzar erected, and threatened to kill anyone who refused to bow to worship the image. Meshach, Shadrach and Abed-nego refused and were cast into a fiery furnace turned up 7-times hotter because the king was so infuriated with wrath.
Daniel 3:5 says that music was the medium by which everyone knew WHEN to bow. I believe that music will also be used in modern times to control the masses and will be an integral part of Satan's Beast system of worship.
The Bible tells us that Satan will kill the two witnesses in Jerusalem. The Antichrist
In Revelation 14:6 we read again that THE GOSPEL will be preached throughout the world during the Tribulation...
Revelation 14:6, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
The Bible says that so many people will come to Christ for salvation that you won't be able to count the numbers...
Revelation 7:9, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”
These will be saved out of the “GREAT TRIBULATION” (that is, the last 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation, Matthew 24:21)...
Revelation 7:13-14, “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
An innumerable number of sinners will be born-again by the Spirit of God during the Tribulation.
The following Scripture prophecies that God will one day destroy THEM WHICH DESTROY THE EARTH...
Revelation 11:18, “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”
Who destroys the earth? Modern
industrialization! Companies pollute the rivers. Many people are pigs. The
world's biggest junk yard is located in the Pacific Ocean. Plastic does not
dissolve. It breaks down into pieces eventually, but it takes almost
100-years. All of the garbage that people have thrown into the ocean has
collected in a certain area over a thousand miles wide.
The 144,000
Revelation 14:4, “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”
The 144,000 are saved Christians. They are the “firstfruits” of all the rest who are going to get saved during the 7-year Tribulation. After 6,000 years of history, we find out that God says there's never been a time as horrible as will be the Tribulation. The Antichrist will try to kill everyone who doesn't receive the mark. If God didn't cut the Tribulation short to only 7-years, everyone would be killed (Matthew 24:22). Over half of the population is going to be killed in the Tribulation.
Why won't God allow the tribe of Dan to represent Him in the Tribulation? When the Jews entered into the land of Canaan, the tribe of Dan was the first to go into apostasy. For this reason, Dan is not mentioned amongst the 144,000 tribes in Revelation.
There is much confusion amongst scholars concerning prophecy. The Jews will trust the false messiah when he comes, the Antichrist.
After the Rapture, 12,000 Jews out of each tribe will be saved. We don't know how or why, but we know that God knows and that's all that we need to know. We don't know where snow comes from, but it comes. We don't know where lightning comes from, or tornadoes, but they happen. God controls the weather.
LIVE FOR YOURSELF! This is the message today. We are hearing strange and bizarre atrocities in the newsmedia on a regular basis. The world is going to hell.
Revelation 11:4-8 teaches about the 144,000 witnesses
“Every Christian should be working as hard to present the gospel, as Satan is to prevent the gospel.” ~Pastor Max D. Younce (from the sermon, 'THE TWO WITNESSES - PART 2')
1st Corinthians 15:51-53, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
The Lord's Return Draweth Nigh
The Word of God teaches that the Lord is only delaying His return for the sake of lost sinners, who still need to come to Christ for salvation. The Father wants His house filled (Luke 14:23). We must be patient...
James 5:7-8, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
What a day that will be. Notice what the Bible states in James 5:3, “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” It's hard to believe that nearly 2,000 years have already passed since that Scripture was written. Was God lying? No, the Bible tell us not to be ignorant of the fact that God lives in eternity where there is no time. 2nd Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Men judge God's faithfulness by the faulty standard of time. As time passes some men become impatient and decide that God is a liar, unfaithful and that the prophecy of the Lord's return is not accurate. But God lives in eternity.
Revelation 10:6 teaches that there will be TIME NO LONGER. God created time for humanity, so we could be held accountable for how we spend our time. Ephesians 5:16, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Everything has a beginning and an end, but that doesn't apply to God. In fact, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8).
Everything begins with God and everything ends with God (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Acts 17:25; John 1:3). God gave us life and He offers to all men eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26). Those who reject Christ and refuse God's loving offer will suffer everlasting punishment in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:12-15; John 3:36; 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9; Psalm 9:17). The choice is ours!
Albeit, from world events today it certainly appears that something big is going to happen soon. If the Lord doesn't return, a monstrous global government is going to afflict the masses of this world like never before, which will dwarf Hitler's holocaust in comparison. The world is fast headed for a Communist dictatorship, a nightmare Police State, with power-tripping thugs oppressing the population. The conditions are ripe for the coming of the man of sin, the Antichrist to rule the dark criminal empire.
The Lord must return prior to the revealing of the identity of the Antichrist (2nd Thessalonians 2:3). The Bible has never shown more accurate than today, as we are witnessing firsthand the uprising of the New World Order. These are exciting and scary times, and best of all... God is still on His throne. Jeremiah 17:10, “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” I love the Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Savior!
Jesus DIED, He was BURIED, and He ROSE again three days later for our sins (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus shed His precious, literal, blood to wash away our sin debt (1st John 1:7). If we acknowledge our sinful condition and receive the gospel as payment for our sins, then we will be saved eternally. Please don't wait another moment if you're not saved!
THE TWO WITNESSES - PART 1 |
THE TWO WITNESSES - PART 2 |
THE TWO WITNESSES - PART 3
1st Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
