Folks, we are in the very last seconds of the last moments of the last hours of the last days. The prophetic events of the last minutes before the rapture of the Church and, subsequent to our removal, the onset of the Tribulation, are right at the door prophetically speaking.
Events that will bring about the fulfillment of Isaiah 17:1 and Ezekiel 38-39 are already well in play. It’s only a matter of time before both of these post- rapture, pre-tribulation events commence. Then after these two conflicts, the final 7-year Tribulation will commence with the confirmation of THE covenant made between the Man of Sin and Israel. The confirmation or “strengthening” of this covenant will be the event that will begin the last 7-year countdown of the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” – aka the Tribulation (Daniel 9; Jeremiah 30:7).
Now more than ever, we need to keep ourselves immersed in the Word of God. Now more than ever, we need to be sharing the gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone to any and all with whom we have access and to all whom we can reach. Now more than ever, we need to be warning the lost ones of our families, friends, and anyone else we meet, of the holy wrath and judgment of God that lies just outside the door for them on the other side of the soon-coming rapture, should they continue to refuse God’s merciful offer of salvation.
These things need to be our main focus from now until Jesus calls us Home. It’s time to remove the blinders from our eyes. It’s time to pry our fingers off of the doorframe of this wicked, crumbling world and realize that NOTHING is going to remain the same from here on out, because we are in the final seconds of the “end game” in God’s great plan for the ages. It’s time to wake up, pray up, stand up, and look up, because the redemption (of our bodies) draweth nigh.
As scripture reminds us, we must redeem well whatever time we have left to us. We need to look around and pray – to intercede on behalf of our persecuted brethren. We must teach and strengthen the Biblical foundations of our children and pray for their spiritual protection from the onslaught of evil; their little bodies, minds, and spirits are Satan’s most sought-after targets. We must share the gospel of salvation and “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints” with renewed fervor and passion, realizing that our time to do so grows shorter every second that passes. We must seek God’s counsel on where and how He wants us to do these things in the time we have left (Jude 3).
As we approach the finish line, may we all strive to do as the Apostle Paul did; may we faithfully “run the race and finish the course.” Wherever God calls us to go, wherever He places us to serve, in whatever capacity He endows us to be His witnesses, let us run the race faithfully to the end. Let us be found “occupying” until He calls for us in the air.
Whether our calling is to “contend for the faith” in an open forum, or whether the remainder of our race is to be run quietly out of the public eye in other places and in other ways; regardless, let us never falter or fall in our calling to be “ambassadors for Christ.” Let us keep on keeping on. “Forgetting those things which are past, let us press on towards the mark of the prize of the high calling of God” whenever and wherever our King calls us and wherever He places us to serve Him.
I guess what I’m trying to say is this: no matter how hard the going gets, don’t give up. Don’t stop now that we are so close to the finish line. Take up the slack and do what we know needs to be done in these last few moments before we leave this vile earth behind and head home to Glory.
Our deliverance is almost here. Don’t flag now. Don’t falter now. Don’t lose heart now. Keep running the race. Keep holding on to our blessed hope. Keep praying and keep looking up.
In closing, I want to finish with this: there is an old, old song that I used to sing. In fact, it was the first song I sang as a solo when I was about 13 years old. I’ve not heard it in ages, but the Lord seems to be bringing it to my mind more and more often these days. The lyrics go like this:
Oft times the way seems long,
our trials hard to bear.
We’re tempted to complain,
to murmur and despair.
But Christ will soon appear
to catch His bride away!
All tears forever vanquished
in God’s eternal day!
It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus!
Life’s trials will seem so small
when we see Him.
One look at His dear face,
all sorrows will erase.
So bravely run the race
till we see Christ.
(Excerpt from “It Will Be Worth It All When We See Jesus” by Esther Kerr Rusthoi)
I pray that, by the strength of God’s great grace, we all will continue to “bravely run the race” in whatever capacity and in whatever location God places us until our “blessed hope” is at last realized. Until we hear that trumpet blast; until we see Christ in the air – our changed bodies rising faster than the speed of light through the atmosphere to meet Him in the air, as He shouts for His bride to “COME UP Hither” – I pray that we all will finish this race faithfully and with honor to bring Him glory.
Soon, VERY SOON, the trump of God WILL blast and the voice of the archangel will sound. So until then, keep looking up, my dear family of God. Our Deliverer is coming. Our Deliverer is standing by.
MARANATHA!