Stand Firm And Endure.

1st Thessalonians 5:8-11

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

• We are not appointed to wrath. This is 100% true for the follower of Jesus who is faithful and obedient to His will and have placed full trust in His finished work upon the cross. However, many believers attribute 'wrath' to mean 'any kind of difficulty or tribulation'. When we look at the underground church, they face persecution and martyrdom, and have been doing so since the 1st century church. Only in the West do many hold to an (unbiblical) view which suggests that God 'removes us', while the Jews and the rest of the world suffers. Overall, pretribulationalism is not only a doctrine of demons, but it proclaims God to be a liar, in that He 'never allows for us to face difficulty'.

• Daniel 7:21/22 and Revelation 13:7 proclaim quite clearly "and he (the antichrist) is given authority to overcome the saints"... by Whom? God. Many who hear this become offended that 'they' have to prepare their hearts and minds for such a reality (and come up with the excuse of 'those are tribulation saints'), and yet, the underground church, even as you read this, are being killed for their faith right now... are they spared? Do they get raptured out of here beforehand? The West has taught us to fear the fear of death for the glory of God, and this is dangerous!

• YES, we are to comfort one another with the hope of Jesus' coming back to make all things new. We understand that this will not happen until Jacob (Israel) is saved, that ALL THE NATIONS ARE REACHED WITH THE GOOD NEWS, and the antichrist is revealed in the temple proclaiming himself as everything 'above' God. We have hope that this temporary state of sin and death will come to an end, and we will be with Jesus forever, all loved ones, and no more curse. We do not look for some 'secret escape'... we look to serve the Lord Jesus, NO MATTER THE COST (Revelation 6:9/11, Revelation 12:11, Revelation 13:10, Revelation 14:13).

This is part of why we cry MARANATHA, because we yearn for His return to end this age of madness and sin!