When the Apocalypse begins, it will be the start of the most horrendous period in world history. It will make WW I, WWII, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Rwanda and all the other wars since the dawn of time look like an afternoon tea party. Famines and disease will be multiplied a thousand fold. Literally, all hell will break loose to terrorize humankind.
So who will go through the Tribulation? Are we all to suffer its effects? Or, as some teach, is there to be a group of favored people who will avoid the coming cataclysm? To answer this vexed question, we begin with a statement by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:7, 8:
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
Paul speaks here of a mystery that had been hidden since before the beginning of the creation of the world. This mystery is of such import and magnitude, that had the “princes of this world” known about it, they would not have crucified Jesus Christ. So who are the “princes of this world?” Well the chief prince is a person we have been discussing all through these writings. Jesus mentions him several times:
“Henceforth I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30).
Satan is referred to several times as the “prince” of this world and the prince of devils. So the prices of this world are Satan and his fellow evil fallen angels, that is, the Nephilim.
So what is this mystery that it is so important? First mention of this great secret is given in the last chapter of the Epistle of Paul to Christian believers who lived in Rome.
“Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:25, 26).
The word mystery in the Greek literally means “sacred secret.” According to Paul, this mystery had been kept secret since the world began, but was only now being revealed to all the nations via his writings. Paul further goes on to reveal what this sacred secret is in the epistle to the Ephesians chapter 3:1-12.
“How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery…Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of man and is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel:
“Unto me is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things.”
Three times between Romans and Ephesians we are told that this sacred secret had been hidden in God since before the world was created. That is how important this mystery is. This mystery is in two parts. This first part reveals that the Gentiles were to be fellow heirs and of the same body, and partakers of the promises of Christ. That is, the Gentiles were now to share fully in the promises of God as provided for by and in Jesus Christ.
So what is the big deal with this, you might ask? Well for centuries before, from the time of Moses, the nation of Israel were the chosen people. Unto them was committed the Laws of God and the promises of God. As far as the Jews were concerned, the Gentiles, which meant everyone else, were mere dogs. They and only they, were the chosen ones. But now, as revealed by Paul, all this has changed. Now the Gentiles can receive the gift of Holy Spirit and as such, become co equal with the Jews in all the promises of God.
But the second part of the great mystery is even more major than the first part. This is reiterated by Paul in Colossians 1:24-27:
“Even the mystery which had been hid for ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Prior to the giving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the Gentiles were without hope and without God in this world. But now, because of His sacrifice and the shedding of the blood of Christ, all that is changed and changed utterly. This secret which no man knew of, for it was hidden by God since before the world began, is now revealed to Paul and made know to the nations. Not just that the Gentiles are now included in the family of God, but that everyone who believes gets eternal life and that life is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
This is an incredible gift and an amazing revelation. So tremendous a revelation of this sacred secret is this, that if the princes of this world had known it, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
Just think about that for a moment. So stupendous and monumental is this revelation that, had Satan and the rest of the fallen angels known about it, they would not have murdered Jesus Christ on the cross. They would have preferred to have him still walking about the earth today than allow this miracle to happen. For when Jesus walked, He had the power of God’s Holy Spirit in Him and He did mighty works. But it was one man working alone. But because of His crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, now that same Spirit was made available to all who accept Jesus as their personal Savior and believe that God raised Him from the dead.
When you receive the Spirit of God in you, this is His seed and it is eternal life. Now you are going to heaven and all hell cannot stop you. When Jesus was on this earth, it was one man with the spirit and power of God in him. But 3000 more souls were added on the day of Pentecost. Then thousands more in the days and months that followed. Jesus said he was the “light of the world.”
Wherever the light goes, darkness has to flee. But every time another soul received the gift of Holy Spirit, another light was lit in this perverted world and the darkness is banished. If you switch a light on in a room, darkness must vanish. Now there are millions of lights being turned on in countries all over the world.
The Jews were the servants of God and a few used to receive the Spirit “upon” them. But this is no more. Now it is the eternal seed of God in you which makes you a son of God by birth, and you cannot lose that seed. And the great mystery, the sacred secret that was hidden in God from before the creation of the world, is that it is Christ in you, the hope of glory…Christ in you…
What an amazing, literal truth. You have the spirit of Christ in you. That’s the same Spirit that Christ received when John baptized him and the Spirit descended on him like a dove. And now it is inside you.
You can accomplish the same works as Jesus. You have direct access to the Throne of God in heaven, as a son. You can pray and preach and teach and cast out demons just as Jesus did, and the Devil does not like this one bit. And had he known this was going to happen, he and his princes would not have crucified Jesus. For now you have the same power of God residing in you and at your disposal. All you have to do is begin to act on what you have been given.
Because of this great mystery, Satan has worked over the centuries to diminish the teaching of this secret. Many Christian folks have no idea of its implications. It has been glossed over and ignored. But those of us who are born from above and have the gift of God, are saved. We are now the Church of God and members of the Body of Christ. We are the saints which means we are sanctified or set apart. This is why the epistles are addressed to “the saints at Rome,” or “the saints at Corinth,” or “the saints at Ephesus, etc.”
We are not servants but sons of God by birth. This makes us different from the children of Israel and the Jewish nation. One of the names given to the time of the Apocalypse is, the day of Jacob’s trouble. Jacob is associated with the Jews and not with the church of God. This is why Paul wrote that we are “saved from the coming wrath.”
For we have the blessed hope of the soon coming of our Lord to gather together His church and meet us in the air and take us to where He is now. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. So comfort one another with these words because we will play no act or part in the coming Tribulation period.
Patrick Heron is the best-selling author of Apocalypse Soon and The Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse.