The Church WILL Go through The Tribulation

      or at least some of it.

I was reading trough Ezekiel and followed some ‘rabbit trail’ to Revelations 7. Something in the 9-10 verses stuck crosswise in my mind.  O, I know what the professors and doctors of Divinity say about this passage … I have heard all three sides…  Yet, this just came and sat in my chest.

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation [belongs] to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Revelations 7:9-10

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Sir,  you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. "They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; "for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  Rev 7: 13-17

I also recently read a book written by and old and now learned friend about God’s judgment and wrath. At one point He answers the question: Why does not God stop all the evil in the world? He explained how Christians have been given authority etc. As part of his answer he also said that if God stop one suicide or murder or… aside from humans listening and obeying God; if God just intervenes like “Boom”,  then why did He not stop all the other evils in the world. If God divinely, miraculously, with no human involved,  block a war; then why was all the others not stopped?  This made me think of the Pre-tribulation Rapture theology: When things are going to get dangerous and crazy here on earth, Jesus is going to sweep in and rapture the church. So what happened in Communist Russia, China and Cambodia?  What happened to John Huss on the stake and the nuns who were killed in Africa? What happened with all the missionaries that was killed for their faith, shouldn’t they have been rescued by rapture?

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. Matthew 24:3-4  (Also see Mark 13)

"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all  [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,  and earthquakes in various places. "All these [are] the beginning of sorrows. Matt 24 :5-8

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Matt 24: 9-10

"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Matt 24:21-22

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matt 24:29-31

It looks like to me, and I may be completely of target here, that we will be persecuted. It seems like that vast crowd in their white robes singing about God’s salvation may just be the church who gets slaughtered during the tribulation. Maybe the Great Tribulation is a tribulation of the church by the heathen, evil ones. And then the wrath of God is poured out on satan and all his followers.

There is also this promise that Jesus gave:” These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

And not only [that], but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:1-5

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [Shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:35-37

rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; Romans 12:12

Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation,  that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1;3-4

 To the Church in Ephesus Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw [some] of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelations 2:10

So, why does it matter? What difference does it make if the church will leave before the great tribulation, at the last trumpet - during the tribulation; or after it is all done?  It matters because we will not be prepared to stand if we believe we will be rescued before things get to hot in this kitchen. It matters because we will be weak in our faith and our commitment. It matters because people will ride in their rocking chairs not knowing the power of God nor the holiness without which no-one will see God.

 "And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection." Revelation 20:4 and 5

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Rev 12:10-11

How prepared are we in the western Church to stand through tribulation and persecution? Listen to what Richard Wurmbrand said about the church behind the iron curtain: “It must be understood that there are no nominal, halfhearted, lukewarm Christians in Russia or China. The price Christians pay is far too great. The next point to remember is that persecution has always produced a better Christian—a witnessing Christian, a soul-winning Christian. Communist persecution has backfired and produced serious, dedicated Christians such as are rarely seen in free lands. These people cannot understand how anyone can be a Christian and not want to win every soul they meet.”

Doesn’t it sound like persecution may be a good thing to clean us from all the fluff and stuff we have buried ourselves in? We have been crying out for a revival in the western church. Some have said that it is coming but will not look like we expect it to look. May it be that what we have been asking for is “trouble, tribulation and persecution” so that this part of the body of Christ may become us strong, pure and enduring as our brothers and sisters who stare death and torture in the face, daily?

Marriage – Christian Marriage

The way Christian Marriages have been handled through the ages have boiled down to basically two understandings: The husband is the king of the house. He has absolute authority and all else have to submit. The second is that husband thinks he is the boss while the wife manipulates and controls behind the scenes to get her way. This has often been referred to as a “Jezebel”.

Both these approaches are unbiblical, un-christlike and detrimental to the children trained in this environment.

First: We only have one God and Savior: Jesus Christ. We owe only this one our total submission. He is the only one who loves us perfectly and never makes any mistakes. Jesus said: “call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Matt 23:9. Was He saying that you cannot refer to your early male parent as “father”? Of course not, He was speaking about the authority we give people over our lives. It is easy to negate the responsibility for ourselves to another. We can easily blame all our failures on such a person. We can easily lay aside the responsibility to cultivate a personal relationship with God and let the earthly “father” lead us. Laziness disguises itself masterfully.

Husbands are the leader, the head of the household. How are you leading? Jesus said that those who lead in the Kingdom of Heaven should not Lord it over the people they lead. We are under-shepherds we are not kings, lords or masters. We are fellow servants. Peter wrote: “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [wives] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”  There are good leaders and bad leaders.  Family is our first congregation. How well do you lead this group into the fullness of God? We are all being built into a building of God, each in his or her place and function. “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,”  Phil 2:3 “nothing in rivalry or vain-glory, but in humility of mind one another counting more excellent than yourselves” -- -- “He who is leading -- `In diligence” Luke 22:25-26 “And He said to them, `The kings of the nations do exercise lordship over them, and those exercising authority upon them are called benefactors; but ye [are] not so, but he who is greater among you -- let him be as the younger; and he who is leading, as he who is ministering;…”

The question really ought to be: “What makes a Godly leader?” “How can we be Christ-like in fulfilling our call as leaders?”

Second. Manipulation and control is never a God thing. God never, ever manipulates. It simply is not His character. He is truth.  The evil one, the devil, is the deceiver, the manipulator. Genesis 3 He tricked Eve into disobeying God. In Matthew 4 he tried the same nonsense on Jesus and failed. If you find yourself “needing” to manipulate, ask God to intervene. You open yourself and your home to a multitude of evil by participating in this. You have to refuse to pick up the ball that was dropped. Refuse to act in an ungodly way. Refuse to be forced into a position that calls for deceiving, underhandedness. This may present hard choices. You may have to make sacrifices you would not have made, had the relationship followed Godly standards. How can you do this? By understanding what is your responsibility and what is not. Stick to what is your job. Wives (husbands), you are not responsible for your husband (wife) or children’s choices. You cannot make them do the “right” thing. You can pray for them, but if they cannot and will not live Godly lives you cannot step in and be the Holy Spirit in their lives. (This does not mean that parents should not train up their children in Godly ways. It is simply referring to their heart attitude towards God) This may be a fight. The fight may be in not letting our flesh dictate our actions or re-actions. The fight may be to refuse to manipulate. The fight may be to stop making excuses for the other parent’s failures. The fight may be for survival, to refuse abuse.

What is a balanced Christian marriage? It is a relationship where both grow into one another and into God by each fulfilling his and her purpose. It is a husband that leads in a godly manner and a wife who follows in a godly manner. It is where both husband and wife fulfill their God-given, God-ordained calling. It’s where one is not intimidated or threatened by the other. This home will not have one person as the all important ‘lord’ with the others dancing about trying to please this person. This is a place of love and acceptance. It is a place where the Spirit of God can operate freely because there is harmony and peace. It is the picture, the allegory, of Christ and His church.

We cannot be good in our human relationships when our relationship with God is askew. Each person has a responsibility to fulfill their God-given, God-ordained calling. We are responsible to use the gifts we receive to honor God. We each have a duty to obey God and live in relationship to Him. No-one else can do this for us.