When Jesus left this earth
and returned to Heaven He left His apostles in charge to tell
others all about
Him, but they weren’t alone. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, came and resided
in each of these men, and all those who came to Christ by their teaching. Jesus
commissioned them to take the Gospel, the Good News, throughout the known
world, and that they did.
“Now the eleven disciples
went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some
doubted.
And Jesus came and said to
them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:16-20 ESV)
At this point there were only
eleven original apostles left since Judas was out of the picture. Later,
Matthias was elected to replace him.
Verse seventeen says that
“some doubted.” I love this about the Bible. It is very honest. God’s Word
never tries to cover up anything. It just speaks the truth. Obviously, there
were many at this meeting in Galilee, not just the original apostles, but some
in the crowd doubted. Nevertheless, from Jesus’ original core group the Gospel
of Jesus Christ has since spread around the world.
Keep this in mind. They did
not have any large buildings, soft pews, beautiful music, and a big budget. In other
words, they didn’t have all the ‘fancy fixins’ that we are so accustomed to
today. The only transportation they had was their own two feet or maybe a
donkey. On some occasions, if large bodies of water were in the picture, they
could catch a boat.
How did they ever make it? No
planes, trains or automobiles! No Nike walking shoes!
Today we whine if the pews
aren’t cushioned enough for our every widening posterior.
No air conditioning? We won’t
be there.
No heat? We won’t be there.
You mean refreshments won’t
be served this Sunday? I’m not going.
The preacher didn’t tell any
jokes today. I won’t be back.
Some &*$% took my parking
spot and my seat! What has this church come to!?
Whine, whine, whine.
Maybe we need to go back to
our roots. You know, back to the beginning. Walk a few hundred miles with the
apostles in the hot summer sun and the cold winter days.
What would happen if the
church doors were locked and those who claimed to be Christian were deprived of
most all pleasantries? What would happen if this same group experienced the
wrath of the government upon their heads? What would happen if they had to hide
from their persecutors to stay alive?
During the Tribulation the
True Church will be gone. Those remaining will experience what it was like
during the Ephesus and Smyrna church age when it comes to persecution.
Most all in the Laodicean
church age will glide right into the Tribulation. I really don’t think there
will be many missing from the churches when the Rapture occurs, but they will
run like a dog with its tail on fire when the beast and false prophet get to
work. In proportion to the population, few will understand, call on Jesus to be
saved, and stand firm to their commitment to God until the end.
For Tribulation believers the
world will revert back to world-wide persecution of those who claim to be
disciples of Jesus Christ, except the Tribulation will be even worse than
anything in history, much worse even than the Ephesus and Smyrna church era.
It may seem hard now, depending
on where you live, to stand for Jesus, but during the Tribulation all true
believers will have to hide out just to stay alive. They will lose everything
they own and pray day to day that they won’t be caught.
All people will be forced
into making a decision for or against Jesus Christ. There will be no
‘middle-of-the-roaders.’ Those who deny Christ will be free for a while only to
accompany their god into hell later on. Those who stand with Christ will lose
their head if they can’t get away and stay hidden, but will reign with Him
later on.
We in this country are
starting to see the effects of pure evil closing in on us, but it is only a tip
of the shadow of the beast from hell to come. It is so very easy for anyone to
come to Jesus now and really live for Him, but the curtain is getting ready to
close on this age; i.e. the Church age.
Common sense would say, “Fall
on your knees now in true repentance. Give your life to Jesus Christ and live
for Him, before He comes for His bride. Once the Church is gone, living and
dying will be down where the rubber meets the road.”
Most of you will laugh this
off and say this is foolishness, but it isn’t foolishness. It is a plea for
your cause, a plea for you to come to Him now while you can. Once He comes for
His Church, the bride, the Tribulation will start, and your chances are slim to
none of being saved. You will only have torment, heartache, tears, agony,
terror and judgment ahead.
The Christians during the age
of Ephesus and Smyrna had very, very hard lives because of their love for
Jesus. Satan hated them and made their lives hell. It will be even worse during
the Tribulation. Don’t gamble with your soul. Act now.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
