Presents
Matthew #2558
The message to the kings and rulers of the nations will be that their little LOVE AFFAIR with the harlot, i.e. the New World Order is about to end.
Presents
Matthew #2558
The message to the kings and rulers of the nations will be that their little LOVE AFFAIR with the harlot, i.e. the New World Order is about to end.
Did you know that there are two "works" of the servants of God in these last days during the final generation of the fig tree? One of those works began while the season was young and has been going on for some time now. That work is the great shepherding to the house of Israel which is the teaching of the visions of the prophets by the sons and daughters of Acts 2:17-21, who are those brothers and sisters of the church of Philadelphia (brotherly love) in Rev. 3:7-13 who love to study and share His Word with their loved ones. It is to that family of students (disciples, i.e. those disciplined in His Word) who serve Him and keep His Word, both male and female, to whom He has given the key of David (Rev. 3:7) and upon whom He has poured out His Spirit of Truth in these last days. Acts 2:18 "And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." To prophesy means to teach the prophets which is what the "watchman" is instructed to do in the great Book of EZEK-I-EL whose name means "God is Strong" or "God is my Strength". Ezekiel was a type of the watchman of these last days.
Ezekiel was to eat the entire roll, the Word of God, and absorb and digest it with understanding until it became a part of him. That is how ones grows the gospel armour of Eph. 6 and becomes "strong in the Lord". Now notice the commission to one who is strengthened by God, i.e. is made strong through the knowledge and wisdom from His Word.Ezekiel 3:3-5
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
Ezekiel was to go to his brothers and sisters of the house of Israel* and teach God's Word (His scroll) after the manner of "Thus saith the Lord" (Ezek. 3:11) and "It is written", i.e. chapter by chapter and verse by verse teaching His words, not man's traditions. Understand that Ezekiel's work was not as one sent to the gentile nations, but rather to the house of Israel*.[4] And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
You "see", the great shepherding and sealing of the Word of God in the minds of the 144,000 of the house of Israel* (Rev. 7:3) and to any and all who will open their eyes and ears to hear His Voice in this final generation, occurs during the 5th Trump when the four winds are held back for the elect's sake to complete their sealing, saving work. To that very end, we will learn that Christ told His disciples in this private set of instructions on the Mount of Olives that He has shortened the time that the abominable one, Satan, the son of perdition, shall come stand in the holy place claiming to be God, which happens at the sound of the 6th Trump. He further states that His reason for shortening that time is for the elect's sake... not because He is concerned that they shall "bow a knee to Baal", for that they did not do so in the first earth age and neither shall they in this one, but because of the saving work they do during this extended period of "longsuffering" (2 Pet. 3:9)! Otherwise, because the deception will be so great when the false messiah comes, no one would be able to escape so great a flood of lies and deceit. Matthew 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." Again, the elect during that time before Satan is cast out of heaven to this earth are teaching God's Word and giving His warning to their brothers and sisters that they might be saved from spiritual desolation. That is part of the duty of the watchman to give the warning of the coming of the king of Babylon in these last days of whom Nebuchadezzar king of Babylon was a type![5] For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
While the many (most) preachers are teaching any-moment rapture theories and saying that Christ is going to return at any time to take up His church, the true servants and watchmen of God are teaching His Word to their brothers and sisters and declaring as it is written that the false messiah, the fake bridegroom, comes first to take them to wife and that most of them will be spiritually seduced by him. In other words, the false prophets who teach the traditions of men are sounding the alarms out of order, in the wrong sequence! They are sounding the alarm of the 7th Trump, which is when Christ returns, while the true teachers of God's Word are warning and sounding the alarm that the 6th Trump, which is the coming of the false messiah, must first take place before we gather back to Christ at the 7th Trump. Paul made this so clear in 2 Thes. 2 that anyone who will take the time to examine that which is written instead of allowing men to deceive and convince them with their soothsaying words and books and movies, can come to a simple understanding of the truth.
Nevertheless, there comes a time when the season of the final generation at the end of this flesh age waxes old and the Baby Boomers start to get gray hair, that the 6th Trump does finally sound and the abominable one is cast down out of heaven and comes defacto (Rev. 12:7-9) standing in the Holy Place claiming that he is God. Make no mistake about it dear Christian. It shall happen exactly as it is written no matter how popular those fly-away doctrines to the contrary may be!
Read the first two verses of 2 Thes. 2 and you will know that "that day" Paul is talking about is the day we gather back to Christ at the sound of the last (7th) trump! The point Paul is making here is that there is going to be a great "apostasy" among our people take place before that happens which is when the abominable one, the son who has already been sentenced to perish and therefore called the "son of perdition", Satan posing as the Messiah, shall come and deceive the majority of professing Christians into believing that he is God, even that he is Jesus Christ who has come to rapture them away. To that end, it is written (Mat. 24:24, Rev. 13:13) that he shall perform great wonders and miracles in the sight of men to convince people that he is who he claims to be.2 Thes. 2:3-4
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Once the 6th Trump has sounded and the king of Babylon of these last days and Satan as the instead-of-Jesus has arrived on the scene, the shepherding work of the brotherhood of the church of Philadelphia which blows the trumpet warning of his coming will have been accomplished. That simply means that the sealing of God's Word in the foreheads of those in Rev. 7 will have taken place and Satan will have arrived defacto, and so it is now time for the proclamation (heralding) of the "gospel of the kingdom" throughout the world as a witness and testimony to the leaders and peoples of all nations. That proclamation is the good news (though the nations won't see it that way) that the King and His dominion are coming to take over the reigns of government on this earth. Though God's elect are instructed not to worry nor to premeditate on what they shall say when they are delivered up to give that witness and testimony, we know from Joel 3:9-21 that the proclamation will include the warning that they had better prepare themselves with all the strength and weaponry they can muster... for His judgment (God is Judge) is coming to the valley of Jehoshaphat (Yahveh Judges). This is important to our understanding in today's study of Mat. 24 so here is a glimpse of that proclamation of the coming of the King with His saints to take dominion and to reign on earth:[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
This proclamation and warning is to the gentile nations which is what God's elect who are delivered up will give as His testimony and witness against them. Again, they will be proclaiming the coming of the King of kings and the pouring out of His cup of wrath upon the ungodly! They will be proclaiming the sound of the 7th Trump, not the 6th, for the 6th Trumpet will have already sounded.Joel 3:9-17
Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
The message to the nations will be that their little LOVE AFFAIR with the harlot, the New World Order is about to end and it is now DECISION time for it is soon going to be JUDGMENT time in the Valley of Jehoshaphat when Yashua returns with His elect!
So they can choose to either surrender and turn to YHVH who is GOD (JO-EL) or PREPARE to DEFEND THEMSELVES! Gather together all your mighty men and assemble even your weak and handicapped because your gonna need everyone you can muster and all the fire power you can harness, oh great little kings and rulers of the earth!
Go for it now O' kings and rulers of the earth, because when the King of kings and Lord of lords comes you guys are going to beat your swords back into plowshares and pruninghooks and you're going to learn how to use them to plow truth and execute justice according to His Word![10] Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
They shall assemble themselves in the "gathering place of the assembly (Har-Megiddo)" when the Lord and the mighty ones of God, the saints of the most high, come down riding on their white horses to take the kingdom and execute His justice in all the earth! Read Isa. 13:3-6![11] Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
This is the time when the harvest is ripe... at the sound of the 7th Trump, the Day of the LORD![12] Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.[13] Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Remember this verse for we shall see it again later in this 24th chapter of Matthew pertaining also to His second coming at the 7th Trump.[14] Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.[15] The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
We will also discuss this shaking of the heavens and earth later in this 24th chapter.[16] The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his Voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Jerusalem shall be cleansed when Christ returns and destroys all the "stones" of that temple... remember? So the good news (gospel) of the kingdom (the King and dominion coming) as His witness and testimony that the great shake-up is about to come upon the earth, shall be given when "certain of God's elect" are delivered up and the Holy Spirit speaks through them in a language which needs no interpreter as ensampled in Acts 2 on that first Pentecost Day following the resurrection. This is the second work which happens late in the season and which is accomplished by those spiritually rich Christians of the brotherhood who are also of the church of Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11.)[17] So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Here is what Christ says to them:
Do not misunderstand what is being taught by declaring that there are two works because there is still only one body. However, just as there are different parts, even assemblies, of that body so too are there different destinies of the members of that body. Always remember that our Father is "true to His Word" and He has promised that He will not suffer (permit) you to be tried or tempted above that you are able to bear. Some of these Smyrphs (Smyrna-Phillies) have already been through some mighty rough times. But the point is, if Father has a job for you to do then He knows you can "cut it"!Rev. 2:9-10
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Here is that promise:
You "see", those of the church of Smyrna, which comes from the root word "myrrh" meaning "perfumed oil, ointment", are spiritually "rich" Christians of the brotherhood, meaning they are filled to the full with the anointing oil and are able to bear it, able (with His sword) to "cut it" through much tribulation. They have the faith to stand directly before the king of Babylon when they are delivered up and without even thinking about it, even in the face of almost certain death, boldly refuse to bow before His image! They find Satan posing as Christ to be a disgusting abomination indeed!1 Cor. 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
This takes us right to the Book of Daniel where Christ Himself will direct us concerning the abomination of desolation. Matthew 24:15 "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)." Let him who reads the Book of Daniel the prophet understand what takes place during the time the abominable one stands in the holy place.
You "see", all the events that take place in Daniel, in the book titled "God is Judge", occur once the 6th Trump has sounded because the king of Babylon, even the king of Babylon of the Book of Revelation, is present as world leader and the one to be worshipped! To that end, we do not see line by line teaching in Daniel (an ensample to Smyrna) as we do in Ezekiel (an ensample to Philadelphia), but rather casting into prisons and lion dens, and delivering up before the king of Babylon, and witness and testimony given by some of God's elect, "certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes (Daniel 1:3)".
Here are their (spiritual) qualities:
In fact concerning tribulation, these spiritually rich servants of God are going to get a little more pressure placed upon them to drink of ol' king Nebuchadnezzar's wine of fornication and to eat his idolatrous meat. You can read of their ten day's of spiritual tribulation in Daniel 1:12, "Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink". However, they refused his wine and meat and rather "fasted" on pulse (something sown from seeds, i.e. seeds of truth) and water (that living water from His Word, the fountain of truth). You will find the connection to prison, and 10 days of spiritual tribulation, and being faithful even in the face of death, made with the church of Smyrna in Rev. 2:10.Daniel 1:4
Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
And so it is when the king of Babylon comes, exactly as it is written and exactly as those who "have a little strength and have kept His Word" have declared (Rev. 3:8), then the work of the delivering up and witness of the servants of God turns to the Book of DAN-I-EL (God is Judge), the events of which all take place when Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is present.Rev. 2:10
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
In our last study we left off where Christ told us that once globalization takes place, then famines and pestilences and earth shattering events in all walks of life would begin to take place and increase like labor pangs as the One World Political System, the New World Order which is that First Beast of Rev. 13:1 setup by the sons of Cain, rises up from the sea (from among the people) and begins to make great waves. Then the false messiah shall enter in when Michael stands up and casts him out of heaven to this earth (Rev. 12:7-9, Dan. 12:1) and there shall be a great "Woe", "a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."
With that background in mind, let us continue where we left off in our last study and read about that time of trouble and what God's elect shall be doing.
Make no mistake about it. Some (certain) of God's elect shall be delivered up and persecuted and vilified (destroyed) in the eyes of the people for "His names sake", which means because of their beliefs in His Word and His authority that are deemed politically incorrect. To wit, in chapter six of the Book of Daniel you can read how they tried to deliver up Daniel by first finding occasion against him concerning the kingdom. They checked his FBI files and his IRS returns but they came up short in that Daniel was found to be a good law abiding citizen.Matthew 24:9
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
That attempt at destroying Daniel having failed, they turned to political correctness and sought occasion against Daniel concerning "the law of his God"!Daniel 6:4-5
Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
So you know what they did? They had a "royal statute", as in politically correct legislation, signed into law that made it illegal to openly petition the God of Israel, the God Daniel made prayer and supplication to, or else that person would be cast into a den of "lions" to be ripped to shreds and devoured.Wake up brothers and sisters because politically correct legislation making it a crime to teach God's law concerning matters of ancestry, homosexuality, etc., are being passed at an alarming rate in this nation.[5] Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
Did that cause Daniel to close his windows and go into hiding or did he continue to openly follow his Father's will?Daniel 6:7
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Of course you know the rest of the story and how that Daniel was delivered up to death... but he trusted in His God and the Lord delivered Daniel by shutting the mouths of those lions, those gainsayers. You "see", true Christian soldiers are not the least bit intimidated by leftists and spiritual terrorists who attempt to destroy them because they keep their Father's Word. They know of their salvation and thus do not fear what man can do to their flesh which they know is only temporary housing anyway. They revere only Him who has ALL POWER and is therefore able to destroy both soul and body in the lake of fire.Daniel 6:10-11
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Here is what Christ said concerning our flesh bodies:
The point is, those who are fearful for the life of their flesh, beyond the natural instinct of self preservation, and cling to some rapture theory which promises to prevent them from physical harm (because according to the theory you have to be already "saved" in order to qualify for the trip), then none of this applies to them because they don't have enough gospel armour on and in place to take a stand and "cut it" anyway! But God's elect who love the Lord Jesus Christ and know Him through His Word, expect to be persecuted and suffer trials and tribulations. Hey, it comes with the territory! Consider the life of Christ. John 15:20 "...If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you...". Consider the life of Paul. We are at war against spiritual terrorists! Ephes. 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." That fact is, if you are one of God's elect, then there is nothing to fear nor to be anxious about because there is nothing that can shake the foundation upon which you stand and thus separate you from the love of God! Nothing! Are you fully convinced of that as Paul was, or do you still have doubts and fears?Matthew 10:28-32
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Let us read what Paul has to say concerning God's elect.
If God has forgiven you and justified you and declared you ok in His eyes, then who cares what man says? We are not here to please man but to labor in the vineyard for the householder who sent us!Romans 8:33-39
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Christ paid the price and has the power to forgive and wipe away all the sins of those who repent and turn to Him.[34] Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Go ahead, give one of God's elect your best shot and see what happens to you. Our Father doesn't take kindly to those who mess with His children.[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
We know the enemy's battle plan and how miserably he goes down in defeat. You "see", we already have the victory in Christ because Christ already defeated death (Heb. 2:4) which is Satan.[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
No problem! God's elect can and will "cut it"![37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
Are you "persuaded" or does your foundation still rock and roll a little?[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
And yet even though God's elect do not fear what man can do, they also know that it is written to Satan and his angels when they come to this earth not to "touch His anointed" and that except for the glory of the death of the two witnesses in Rev. 11, not one hair on their heads shall be harmed.[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We find that written in Luke's account:
Our brothers and sisters, even our close loved ones, shall be so taken in by the magnificence of the miracle working "peace loving" false messiah whom they will believe is really Jesus, that they will aid in the delivering up of God's elect because they want them to "love Jesus" and be saved by him.Luke 21:16-18
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
The word "hate" in Greek is "miseo" which means to persecute.[17] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
This also takes us to the Book of Daniel in that "not an hair" on the heads of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was harmed by the king of Babylon's fiery pit, neither did the smell of the smoke from the pit pass on their clothing, which is symbolic of the gospel armor.[18] But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
So fear not and understand that your Father has His eye upon His elect and He knows exactly what is happening in their lives. And if you are one who allows the Holy Spirit to speak through you when you are delivered up in the face of death, He has not only promised to deliver you but to confess you before your Father in heaven who shall openly reward and bless you greatly in the kingdom. (Follow what happened to the three children in Daniel to get a clue.) Remember also what we learned back in chapter 10 of Matthew concerning how much our Father values His children?Daniel 3:27
And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Our Father knows when a lowly sparrow bites the dust. How much more is He aware of His own children?Matthew 10:29
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
He who has ALL POWER in both heaven and earth has His eye upon you for you are indeed precious in His sight... so there is nothing to fear! You are His child and He loves you very much.[30] But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
One more time for emphasis!When Satan and his angelic host come at the sound of the 6th Trump, they are given specific instructions that they cannot harm those who have the seal of God in their foreheads, those who have His Word written and engraved in their minds.[31] Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.[32] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
The question is... Will it come as a surprise to you if and when you are one of those who are delivered up to councils or assemblages and "raked over the coals" because of your Christian beliefs? Will you cry out, "Oh dear God, why is this happening to me?", or will you be able to recognize and put two and two together knowing the PURPOSE and that the words of Jesus Christ are coming to pass and then be able to do as apostle James says in his opening remarks concerning tribulation, "Count it all joy...".Rev. 9:4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
What went through the minds of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they were delivered up to Nebuchadnezzar? Was their primary concern the fear of losing their flesh? How about Daniel when he was tossed into the lion's den? Yes, some of God's servants with eyes to see and ears to hear and who are rich in the knowledge and wisdom of His Word, having abstained from idolatry by fasting on the true bread of life and living water of His Word, shall be delivered up in these last days, in the days that lie just ahead. Blepo! Jesus Christ just said so! He also said to His disciples that they should neither be fearful nor anxious nor premeditate on what they shall say (Mark 13:11, Luke 21:14)!
As an ensample, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego did not premeditate when they answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter (Daniel 3:16)".Luke 21:14-15
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
Christ will see to it that the mouth of the lions who seek to devour you are shut! Let's return to Matthew 24.[15] For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
To be offended is to stumble at the Word which is to be drawn away into the apostasy which culminates in this final generation into the multitudes bowing before and worshipping the false messiah. Again, our brothers and sisters who are entrapped in the seduction of the spurious messiah will believe that the true Christ has returned.Matthew 24:10
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
offended, skandalizo, skan-dal-id'-zo, Greek 4624; ("scandalize"); from Greek 4625 (skandalon); to entrap, i.e. trip up (figurative stumble [transitive] or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure) :- (make to) offend.betray, paradidomi, par-ad-id'-o-mee, Greek 3860; from Greek 3844 (para) and Greek 1325 (didomi); to surrender, i.e. yield up, intrust, transmit :- betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, recommend.
hate, miseo, mis-eh'-o, Greek 3404; from a primary misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension to love less :- hate (-ful).
Many false prophets (preachers, teachers) shall arise and deceive many by teaching the traditions of men instead of God's Word and thus causing our people to become deceived... which is to go astray from His Word, to be drawn away from the truth of God's Word, and thus be spiritually seduced by the false messiah.[11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
deceive, planao, plan-ah'-o, Greek 4105; from Greek 4106 (plane); to (properly cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue) :- go astray, deceive, err, seduce, wander, be out of the way.
Iniquity is lawlessness which is a violation of the laws of God caused by following the traditions of men which even seem so right in the eyes of man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Prov. 14:12). Though many of our brothers and sisters profess Christ and claim they believe in God's Word, it is because of their ignorance of the Word that they have been drawn away and therefore do not know Him. In other words, it is because the do "err" that they do those things which are contrary to His Word which is what iniquity is... believing and following the traditions of men, i.e. Churchianity. To wit, the "love" Christ is talking about in verse 12 is not "phileo" but "agape", the love of the truth of God's Word and the doing of His Will.[12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
You may recall at the beginning of this chapter when the disciples asked Christ concerning the "end of the age", we learned that the word "end" is "telos" in Greek. The end of this flesh age is not when Satan as the false messiah comes at the sound of the 6th Trump, but rather when Jesus Christ the true Messiah comes at the sound of the 7th Trump. We will also discover later in this chapter that it is not the first woman taken in the field who is saved for she is seduced by the false-christ, as in wed to the false bridegroom, the first supernatural entity to appear as Messiah. No, it is rather he or she who "endures" throughout the tribulation of Satan and remains true and steadfast in overcoming the beast that shall be saved.[13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
"Tarry behind!" Yes, it is written that he who is "Left Behind" and remains as a chaste virgin (2 Cor. 11:2) unto the coming of the Lord that shall be saved. So BEWARE! Many false prophets shall rise (and many already have) and shall deceive many, the majority of Christians, into accepting the first messiah who comes to this earth... the one who shall deceive the whole world with his signs and great wonders into believing he is God. Again, don't let some foolish man or some book or movie deceive you unless you want to join them in their ignorance of God's Word.endure, hupomeno, hoop-om-en'-o, Greek 5278; from Greek 5259 (hupo) and Greek 3306 (meno); to stay under (behind), i.e. remain; figurative to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude, persevere :- abide, endure, (take) patient (-ly), suffer, tarry behind.
Understand that the Lord cannot return at "any moment" because the next two verses tell us what yet must happen before the end (telos) comes, before Jesus Christ returns and destroys the stones of the temple and saints of the most high take the kingdom for ever and ever.
This happens when some of God's elect, those certain ones chosen before the foundation of this earth age who have a destiny to fulfill (Eph. 1:4), are delivered up to give His witness and testimony before the kings and rulers of all nations.Matthew 24:14
And thisgospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
[15] When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
noieo, noy-eh'-o, Greek 3539; from Greek 3563 (nous); to exercise the mind (observe), i.e. (figurative) to comprehend, heed :- consider, perceive, think, understand.
Daniel 11:31And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
Daniel 11:36And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
2 Thes. 2:4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
[5] Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
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