DAY 50 - Preparation
As we examine the events that are to come, we may be tempted to be fearful and worried.
Still, we are often commanded by God not to fear.
He has “told you before” (Matthew 24:25) so that you may be prepared, and this preparation should occur in a few different areas of your life.
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” (Proverbs 22:3)
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” (Proverbs 27:12)
Yes, I realize that I have repeated my message, but so did God.
Neither of us wants you to miss this point.
Let’s look at what is coming and properly prepare.
The most important step of preparation is salvation.
Hopefully you have already been born again, but if not, you need to know and believe the following.
“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
You are a sinner.
We all are.
Even telling one lie or stealing one thing makes you guilty; in the same way that murdering only one person makes you a murderer.
“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a)
What you have earned for your sin is punishment, and that punishment is death; both the physical death of your body and the spiritual death of soul in hell.
“…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
Despite your sin and guilt, God still wants to forgive you.
However, because He loves you, He will not force you.
He only offers the forgiveness; you have to choose to receive it.
Since we have earned death for our sin, in order to forgive us God needed a way to make us “not guilty”, for God “will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:7).
In order to make you sin-free and take away your guilt so He could forgive you, someone had to die in your place.
Unfortunately, all men are sinners, with their own sins to pay for, so we are helpless on our own.
However, God took on flesh as Jesus Christ, and lived a sin-free life.
God, who cannot die, took on human flesh, which otherwise would sin, and provided in Himself the Savior.
If we will repent and trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only payment for our sins, then He will be our Lord, and we can be forgiven.
Once we are born again by trusting in Him, we have accomplished the most important thing we could ever accomplish in this life.
Once we are truly heading to Heaven upon our death, the only thing slowing down our arrival is our life.
Any fear of death can now vanish.
Concerning the persecution and potential death at the hands of the enemy that we will be facing here as the last days come upon us, we can concentrate on meditating on the following verses, and perhaps even be memorizing them.
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15)
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear, Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke 12:4-5)
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)
Technically, for believers, death is simply the last door that we must walk through before entering into paradise, where “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
I don’t know about you, but that sounds awesome to me!
Though life here is beautiful and enjoyable, it is still forever marred by sin.
The effects of sin and the curse will not exist in Heaven, and it only takes death to get us there.
Therefore, we need not to fear men who can only destroy our body.
The body will cease to exist anyway.
As we reflect on the coming days and the troublous times ahead, we can make some decisions now that may help us live a little longer here and be used of the Lord a little more.
After all, now is the only chance that we have to invite people to join us in heaven, so a few extra years, or months, or even days on earth could certainly be beneficial.
We know that various plagues and famines are still to come, and then the “mark of the beast” as well, when “no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark” (Revelation 13:17).
Since we are also told that “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God” (Revelation 14:9b-10a), we know that we should not be receiving such a mark.
It is also worth contemplating that if God’s wrath upon the entire earth had already started at this point, how could only those that “worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark” be subjected to “the wrath of God”?
I believe that those with the mark will not be raptured, and hence have to enter the “Day of the Lord”, which begins after the exaltation of the Antichrist.
If people are still worshipping “the beast”, obviously another besides the Lord is still being exalted.
If we are here for such times, how could we obtain our daily nourishment when all transactions are delegated by a mark that we cannot and must not receive?
The simplest (and yet most complex) method for accomplishing this is Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
This is God’s prescribed method for answering the questions of, “What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (Matthew 6:31).
If we seek Him first and focus on the spiritual, then He will take care of the physical.
If we can believe that God once fed the entire nation of Israel with manna and used ravens to bring bread for Elijah, then we should be willing to believe that He can likewise provide for us, when we seek Him first.
Also, since He had forewarned us, we can foresee the evil ahead, and prepare for it.
If a person has their own garden, orchard, or farm animals, one’s need to buy food will be decreased.
Plants produce fruit and vegetables which contain seeds.
These seeds can be replanted and grown into new plants which will produce more fruits and vegetables.
Animals can mate and produce more animals, which can either grow up and do likewise, or be eaten.
I know that this sounds very simple, but it is true nonetheless.
If we are to prepare for the days ahead, we may want to buy a water filter and some emergency food rations.
I would recommend getting out of any debt that you have incurred, and finding a way to own some land.
Without a patch of the earth to grow food on or raise animals, your options will be more limited.
In the end, no matter what, we will all end up dead.
Some will pass peacefully and painlessly, while others will die horrible deaths, and those who are still alive during the reign of the Antichrist may have to suffer more than some others.
Believers will be welcomed into paradise by the Lord while those who reject Jesus will perish eternally.
Therefore, our own salvation and the salvation of others are to be the primary focus, for that is the only thing that will last.
2+2=4
In case you missed them,
Introduction
Back Cover
1 : The Foundation
2 : The Tribulation
BONUS : A Biblical, New Testament Understanding of Tribulation
3 : The Seventieth Week of Daniel
4 : Not Appointed to Wrath
5 : Wrath vs. Tribulation
6 : The Day of the Lord
7 : The Lord Alone
8 : The Exaltation of the Antichrist
9 : Promises
10 : The Presupposition
11 : 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
12 : The Revealing of the Antichrist
13 : Same Day - 1
14 : Same Day -2
15 : Hand in Hand
16 : Overtake You as a Thief
17 : Another Thief
18 : Not Knowing the Day or Hour - 1
19 : Not Knowing the Day or Hour - 2
20 : Not Knowing the Day or Hour - 3
21 : Ignorance
22 : "Olivet Discourse": Armageddon or Rapture? -1
23 : "Olivet Discourse": Armageddon or Rapture? -2
24 : For My Name's Sake -1
25 : For My Name's Sake -2
26 : Enduring to the End
27 : The Righteous and the Wicked
28 : Dark Sun and Blood Moon - 1
29 : Dark Sun and Blood Moon - 2
30 : Dark Sun and Blood Moon - 3
31 : "Seal Judgments"
32 : The Fifth Seal
33 : Timing - 1
34 : Timing - 2
35 : Timing - 3
36 : Two Witnesses - 1
37 : Two Witnesses - 2
38 : Two Witnesses - 3
39 : Two Witnesses - 4
40 : Two Witnesses - 5
41 : Imminent - 1
42 : Imminent - 2
43 : Reasons Why
44 : The Cause of the Falling Away
45 : The First Watch
46 : Drunkeness
47 : The End-Time Call to Sobriety
48 : Signs of the Times
49 : The Message to You