In many of my latest articles we have discussed death, and how we must live in these the final days of this world. We have also discussed why the world follows the line of thought that we presently see. We have also discussed the “wages of sin,” the single greatest reason for all the situations that have taken place recently.
Many times we have read in the Old Testament how God had to wrangle the Israelites into shape and just how often they fell into sin over and over again. We also saw, that our Lord and Savior, our God in heaven is a truly loving God and yet, at the same time, is just, beyond our comprehension. We have needed to see that this is a difficult balance for us to consider, yet for God, it is simple. It is how HE is, today, tomorrow and into the future. There is a problem that needs touching on, though it is never one we are able to fully appreciate.
Ezekiel 3:16-19:
“And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word of my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”
Reading the previous verses simply means that not only are we to speak of the Rapture and Tribulation to come, we must also give the unsaved a way out, as far as information. I believe in my heart that this is what the Lord expects of us, as we “rightly divide” the Word of truth.
How are they to know what is right and what is wrong, according to the Lord, if they never know, if they are never taught, if they never have any place to go to find this information? It is at that point that I believe we have failed in our commitment to the Great Commission. It is this verse that speaks to me, that if I fail, if I resist the research, if I forget what is most important in life, I will then be accountable for the blood on my hands. I will be accountable of this infraction by the very Person, the God for us all, that I claim to love and honor.
In my estimation, this is a crucial area in ministry! It is exactly the area we must look to when we remark about those preaching anything other than the salvation in the blood of Jesus Christ. My education, my life in medicine produced a “linear thinking.” There is the right way and there is the way mired with mistakes. Either way, a patient suffers. Someone else suffers, for my inability to understand the needs and approach them with sound therapy, proven therapy and in the medical field we like to say it is “empirical.”
Obviously, this means we must take the route that has worked in the past, with the ideas that new information will advance the therapy to provide a better quality of life. In the Bible, this thinking is the “foundation” needed for a life for Christ, because the days are not getting better, they are getting worse than any time before.
We cannot look at the present drought in this country without noting who will be affected. We must note that the prices of “foodstuffs” will increase. It is already taking place and in the interim people of lesser means will suffer the most. This verse is indeed prophetic and real today.
“And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine” (Revelation 6:6).
Are you still asking if the Bible is still relevant today? Oddly enough, this measurement is the daily requirements of a soldier, back in those days of the Bible. Yet we are still able to glean information, as to what these days ahead will be like. Few are willing to accept that “inflation” is worthless, when lives are at stake, when homes and families are in jeopardy. Food is no longer cheap and yet, the day is coming where food will cost an entire days wages! If the Bible is the Word of God, if prophecy is indeed 100% accurate thus far, then we are in for one really difficult ride here on earth. For some that ride has already begun, their houses foreclosed on, forced to live in their vehicles, forced to depend on others for sustenance.
I believe we would be foolish to look at these things in any other way, than the way they are right now. We must keep the Word of God fresh and in the front of our minds, we must talk about these things to come and be ready. Be forewarned. When the Rapture does take place, those left behind will not only be mesmerized by that event, they will be ushered into a most difficult period of time, the likes that have never been seen before.
If we still have loved ones here on earth, we still need to guide them and give them the benefit of our wisdom and discernment from the Lord─the Word of God. They will be searching desperately and decisively for anything that will help them, not only to understand what they just witnessed but how they might be helped as the world hurtles itself into chaos and death.
They will be looking for answers and seeking advice! And it will be heartbreaking to think the cost they will endure for missing the Rapture. To be honest here, I believe the word “desperation” will pale in light of their true situation. What may be worse than anything is the knowledge that they were told of this before the Rapture. It will be a day of true “biblical proportions” when they realize that they are awake now, but were sleeping before.
It is a picture we wish we could erase from our minds, but that will never happen until we are with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That pain in our hearts will cease to exist when we hear our Lord say, “Come up hither!” We must definitely talk with everyone about the Rapture and at the same time we must be diligent to express the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It must be noted: You cannot have one without the other. They are intertwined, as one Gospel, Jesus Christ.
To simplify, it is triune as well, there is a beginning, when we were created, there is a median (middle) our particular lives and then there is the end. The “end of times” is where we are right now, the last days! This is an entire story, it is the Bible, the Holy Word of God and everyone should have an opportunity to hear and read it and thus, make a decision for Christ.
It is this that plagues me so. To understand the story, one must read it in it’s entirety and yet how many do and how many have not? I am not naive, to think everyone that reads the Word of God, will understand it or that everyone will be willing to read it, the Bible is clear on this. That is a very sad thing to understand! It breaks my heart! I can’t even begin to understand the heartache that our Lord suffers, in knowing this.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:1-3, emphasis added).
As we near the “end” of this world what should be our thoughts? Should we be more concerned with ourselves, even though we know, we are heaven bound? We MUST be concerned with those that are already dead in their trespasses and sin. We must utilize every word, every moment, in meeting the needs of a fallen world, destined for Hell Fire!
The ONLY answer is found in the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary! THIS is our “reasonable service” to a God that loves us and died for us, and waits for all of us to come to HIM, leaving none behind.
We know from the Word of God, the entirety of this world will not accept this! They believe the “price” for salvation by Jesus Christ, is too high a price to pay. They love their sin. We are to give out that information about Jesus Christ without worrying what will happen to us! Is it not enough for us to acknowledge that we are heaven bound? We have already been saved, yet, what of them??