2021-02-05
Good Morning Dear Ones,
1 THESS 1: 9-10 reminds us to “turn away from idols and worship the One true living God. We should wait for the Lord Jesus, His Son, to come from heaven.” There are many reasons to do this. As an observer of the effects of doing this in myself and others, I find more motivation than ever. This motivation arises out of my profound faith in the goodness and love the Father shows us every day. Last week, I mentioned the one glimpse of unseen spiritual warfare in the Scriptures—found in DN 9: 3 and DN 10: 11-13. Judging from some of the things that have happened to me during my lifetime, I believe we have guardian angels that save us from dangers within and outside of ourselves. Even countries have them, like the Archangel Michael, who is the guardian of Israel.
In writing this series of messages, the spotlight should be on the Holy Spirit, the 3rd personality of our wonderful divine Trinitarian God. His power to bring goodness to this world is not to be ignored. 2 THESS 2: 6-7 is an important passage to discuss. “The evil one is already at work, but the extent of what he will do has not yet been seen. That won’t happen until the One that holds him back has been removed from the scene.” This is a clear reference to the end times, that seven years of the Tribulation, and when it happens. At that point, the rapture has been accomplished. The rapture is “a meeting in the air,” so beautifully described in 1 THESS 4: 13-18. This is when the Lord’s shofar [trumpet] will be heard, calling all those who either are good and obediently faithful or were so in their lifetimes and are in their graves, to meet with Jesus and be taken to heaven for eternity. The Tribulation is a series of events, progressively more- evil, described in the book of Revelation over a period of seven years. I’ve taught that book, which people deem to be hard to understand, because of the many symbols in it. Once the system is explained, it all makes sense. God has used the prophet, Daniel, to point forward to how the end times will lay out [DN 2: 19-22, 32-35, 33-45a; DN 7: 13-14; DN 9: 24-27]. It is not until Revelation, that we see the consummation of all prophecy to happen in our future. You may remember that Christ’s disciples asked when He will come a second time, in MT 24: 36. The Lord Jesus tells them that “only the Father knows, not even Himself.” This reply makes the point that having faith and trust in God are absolutely necessary!
Now to a further explanation of 2 THESS 2: 6-7: The point here is that some godly Force has been holding the evil one back, thus limiting the evil he can do. Once this “Force” is removed, the evil one has nothing to hold him back. Admittedly, I struggled a bit imagining this supernatural situation. This trouble originated with my question: How could anything be more- evil than the 3000 years of persecution of the Jews, particularly the Holocaust? It is unthinkable! I’m sure that before the Holocaust, people couldn’t imagine anything as evil as it. Most of us have lived through dirty political campaigns for office, the erosion of public schools academically, the rise in the cost of much-needed medical care, recessions (like the one which began in 2008), the loss of manufacturing in our country, corrupt and abusive business practices, theft and interference in our democracy by foreign powers hacking computer codes, refusal to compromise in the legislative branch of government, abusive policing- leading to wrongful deaths in the black community, progressive division of our society, and the loser of a presidential election who doesn’t have the decency to acknowledge his opponent’s win. All of these evils plague us at a time when we should be counting our blessings and praising the God we trust, who hasn’t yet taken away the Force that limits what evil the devil can do. We should be offering our God praise and thanks!
Dear Ones, it’s necessary for me to mention there are four main theories that explain the chronology of the end times. It’s obvious from the above that I believe in pre-Tribulation rapture. However, the other theories are as follows: mid-Tribulation rapture, that REV is not in any chronological order, and post-Tribulation rapture. The theory that most-closely resembles your own beliefs is something you should chose after asking God in prayer for His advice. It doesn’t matter which theory you believe; it is God’s right to reveal which one is real in His own perfect time and way. We are all judged on the same standard, and God holds the right, not ours, to decide the fate of each person.
PRAYER: O Lord, while it may seem illogical for us to be offering You praise and thanks, while we are amidst enduring so many evils, it is what we should do. You have no evil in You [1 JN 1: 5] and thus, You only bring goodness to the earth. You have given me the belief that the book of Revelation is in chronological order (with three parenthetical interruptions, which show us what is going on in heaven). For the first time, we are given a clear picture of decisions made in heaven and how they impact events on earth during the end times. Your goodness is seen in the love You have for us, the promises You keep, and Your wise advice given. You tell us that a day will come when Christ will return and evil will be ended. We believe You are always truthful. You know there are many lessons for us to learn and encourage us to look for them, even when we are amdist trouble. Christ has modeled kindness for us, and we want to be more like Him. You use Your Spirit to convey important messages to us, to give us self-discipline in study of the Scriptures, and to teach us to live in humility. We are to be just, and faithfully obey You [MICAH 6: 8]. The Bible is Your “Love Letter” to us, and we offer You praise and thanks for Your goodness. It is in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded to write more on the Holy Spirit, Who restrains evil and does so much more for us, next week. How blessed we are that we have an ever-loving God, Who has our best eternal interests in mind with everything He does. Our God is so powerful that He can take ordinary people like me and use us to do His work. My words are those of who began her life not even believing God existed! His forgiveness of my past sins is unmatched in any human I’ve encountered (except the Lord Jesus). There are many good people in this world, and I have been put in touch with some wonderful mentors, who have helped build faith in me. After many years of unhappiness in my first marriage, the Holy Spirit led me to a man, who is as godly as anyone I’ve ever met, my second husband. He and I have been married for almost 44 years and counting. My pre-Christ life was miserable and painful. What a terrific contrast has occurred with Christ making Himself known to me! Many other obediently faithful believers feel the same way. I’m grateful to Him for the many years of meeting fine believers, lessons learned, and negativity dissolved away. He does this for anyone who is willing to open his/her heart to the Trinity. 2 COR 5: 17, “Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old has gone and the new has come.” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
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