Romans
5:9
"Saved
From the Wrath of God"
(part 2)
Romans
5:9, "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much
more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!"
"This
morning I'd like us to open our Bibles to Romans 5, and use
it as a diving board to look at another promise in the Word
of God concerning our deliverance from the wrath that is coming
upon this planet. Romans
5, verse 9, speaking of the results of Gods work of love,
Paul tells us that we have been justified by Jesus' blood,
and then he tells us in verse 9, if you would read it with
me, I'd appreciate it, he says ".much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall
be saved from the wrath of God through him."
Last week we saw what that wrath of God was. We took a tour through the Old Testament and
into the New and we saw that the wrath of God was the phrase
for the time of the tribulation that's coming upon the earth
when God pours out his final wrath upon an ungodly and Christ-rejecting
world. It's better
known as the 7-year tribulation period of time. [Dispensation
pre-millennialist denominations believe it's a 7-year tribulation,
whilst Classic pre-millennialist denominations believe it's
only going to last three and a half years.
World War III is going to last (Classic view) for two
and a half years, and The Day of the Lord is going to last
one year (7 Trumpet plagues take a year, Seven Last Plagues
are in one day as the Lord and immortal saints descend to
the Mount of Olives). Other
than the 7 years verses 3.5 years, the depicted events are
the same or similar.] Revelation itself says the Seven Last Plagues
will fill up the wrath of God upon the world. We also saw that those who experience the wrath
of God are those who are not believing in Christ. All unrighteousness, all ungodliness of men
is who the wrath of God is poured out against, Romans 1:18. And we saw that the only people who will not
go through this time of the wrath of God are those, according
to verse 9, who have been justified by the blood of Jesus
Christ. And if that has been your experience, you've
been declared "not guilty" by faith in Christ's work in your
behalf, and you now have a personal living, alive relationship
with Jesus Christ, the verse goes on to say "that you shall
be saved from the wrath of God through him."
We saw that the clear teaching of the Word of God,
is that in order for us to escape the wrath that's coming,
we must be taken
out
of the world before the wrath comes.
[Dispensationalists and Classic premillennialists only
really disagree on where we're
taken for protection-one groups says to heaven, God's very
throne, the other group to a "place of safety" somewhere on
earth (speculation, Petra). The Bible doctrine that God is going to remove
his "Philadelphia
era believers" from having to go through the "hour of trial
that is to come upon the earth" is very sound Bible doctrine.
It merely gets fuzzy as to whether it's a Rapture or
"place of safety". I
and this site am not promoting or disagreeing with either
interpretation. I am justified by the blood of Jesus Christ,
and am fully willing to wait to see which way the Lord
is going to protect me, should I still be alive when
the end comes upon the world.
I am not disagreeing with Pastor Mark.
But I will try to find a study that gives the "place
of safety" interpretation, to go side-by-side with this study,
so that you may be able to see both interpretations, and know
for sure that protection is promised.
But get this, it is promised to active, alive believers,
not luke-warm believers. We'll also take a close look at Revelation 3
where both types of believers are described by Jesus, and
see only one group is promised protection.
This is a serious matter, and not preached enough in
today's churches. Many saints are being led in the direction of
being in danger of becoming "tribulation saints" without knowing
it.] This is called the "pre-tribulation" rapture.
Pre- meaning before the tribulation, and the word "rapture",
don't let that be a tough word for you.
People say 'that's not in the Bible', but it actually
is in the Bible, in 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17,
it's in the Latin Bible. If
you were to take the Latin translation of that, it says "And
we will be rapere', we will be raptured, caught up", your
Bible says, "to meet the Lord in the air when the Lord returns.
I don't know why a Latin word caught on like it has,
and we talk about the "rapture" instead of maybe using the
Greek word which is harder to pronounce. Maybe that's why. I don't know why we don't call it the "caught
up" of the church. That
sounds weird too. So
however you look at it, the Bible teaches that you're not
going to be here during the time of the wrath of God, and
during the time of his anger toward the world being poured
out, you will not be here, you are going to escape that, because
you're in Christ. And the way that occurs is that he takes you
out just before. We
saw that the teaching of the Old Testament clearly taught
that, where the wrath of God was coming upon the pre-flood
world. Yes, there was
a worldwide flood, yes the entire earth was covered with water,
and yes, only one man and his family escaped, and that was
Noah. But before that flood occurred, and Noah was
carried safely through that flood, there was a man named Enoch
who walked with God. Enoch,
a preacher of righteousness, the New Testament says, we could
translate it, a preacher of justification, he was a preacher
of the gospel. Enoch
preached and proclaimed, and then one day it says, "he was
not." He was just taken up to be with the Lord.
We talked about that last week.
What a beautiful picture of Enoch and the Church, how
the Church that walks with God will taken out before the great
tribulation. There
will be people going through the tribulation, because there
will be people saved outside of the Church, they'll be saved
as God picks up his ministry again with Israel, they will
be saved as the Gospel of the Kingdom is preached and the
Gospel is proclaimed by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and
the two witnesses. Hang with me, it doesn't makes sense to some
of you. It's putting
the pieces together. Others
of you are going 'What?'
Don't worry, the point is, you're not going to be here
if you trust Christ, you believe in the Lord. So Enoch is caught up, raptured before the wrath
was poured out. Before
God's wrath could be poured out on Sodom
and Gomorrah and the cities of that valley, there had to first
be a removal of righteous Lot
and his household. And
so Lot, before the angel could do anything, Lot
had to make tracks. The angel in fact said to him, Genesis 19:22,
'Hurry, escape! For
I can't do anything until you arrive safely there.'
The angel could not bring down the wrath of God on
those cities, an atom-bomb like destruction upon those cities,
until Lot and his household
had safely escaped, and was tucked away in a safe place. [There is sort of a historic type in this as
well with our very own Pilgrim fathers.
The Mayflower landed our Pilgrim fathers in 1621, and
then 10 years later 30,000 Puritan believers landed in Boston. Right after they landed a brutal civil war full
of religious persecution and executions started in England, which
these believers were spared from.
Just before Jerusalem was surrounded by Titus in 70AD,
the believers in the Jerusalem Church of God were warned by
a voice heard in the temple, "Remove from hence" (I believe
the phrase was repeated three times), and the believers fled
to Pela and survived this first brutal Roman war against the
Jewish nation. Jerusalem
and Herod's Temple were destroyed,
with most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem
being killed, and the survivors being made slaves of Rome. Lot was saved by moving him somewhere else,
as were the believers in Jerusalem,
and the Pilgrim and Puritan believers from England. This is a Biblical principle, regardless of
whether it's a rapture to heaven or a removal of believers
to "a place of safety."] Again,
Abraham said the principle well when he said, "far be it from
you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with
the wicked, far be it from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?",
Genesis 18. And so,
Abraham understood that God was not going to destroy the righteous
with the wicked, nor did he keep Lot
in that fire and just protect him through it, he took him
out of it. Could God
protect Lot through the fire?
Sure, he did with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Right? But it's interesting to note that whenever God
is dealing with Israel
in particular, they go through the fire with the Lord. They go through the flood in typology. But the Church is always snatched out before.
We don't go through it. We say, 'that's very nice, Mark.' 'You sure?'
You see the whole reason why one of these letters in
the New Testament, 2nd Thessalonians was written,
the whole reason, if you want to turn there, was because somebody
had come to the church in Thessalonica and they had said,
'Ooh, things are really bad'-persecution was increasing, the
government was beginning to persecute Christians in a really
bad way, the heat was on.
As they read some of the Old Testament accounts of
the great tribulation, maybe the shoe fit here or there, you
know it was a time of indignation, the Church was being battered
badly. And so the Christians there began listening
to false teachers who began to tell them that they had had
visions, that they were in the Day of the Lord right now.
Someone had even made a phony copy of a letter of Paul,
saying the same thing. They
had forged a letter in his name, saying "We're in the great
tribulation, the Day of the Lord." The Day of the Lord, the great tribulation,
the time of Jacob's trouble, the day of the Lamb, the day
of the wrath of the Lamb, that's all the same day.
The Bible has these awesome names for the day of the
great tribulation. The Church was upset. Paul writes them. And he said, "Look, don't let anybody shake
you from your composure" chapter 2, verses 1, 2, and 3. He says, 'Remember what I told you when I was
with you. Don't let
anybody tell you they've had a vision from God and they've
seen we're in the great tribulation.
No, remember I told you there had to be a departure,
first, and apostasy, a departure, a falling away first.
And then that which restrains, the Holy Spirit in the
ministry of the Church, the Church would have to be taken
out. And then the anti-christ
would be revealed and deceive the world.
No, you're in trouble, you're in persecution, you're
in tribulation, yes, but it is not the great
tribulation.' Some
of us today, we're in trouble, we're in tribulation, but it
doesn't hold a match or a candle to what the furnace of the
great tribulation is going to be like. I'll tell you, it's nothing compared to experiencing
the wrath of God. Right
now the trouble that we get is the world throwing trouble
at us. During the great tribulation, it's God throwing
trouble at the world, and believe me, he can throw a lot harder.
He can. [Again, Pastor Mark has gotten some terms mixed up. The great tribulation is Satan's wrath turned
against the world, bringing on World War III, man against
man. God's wrath comes right on the heals of Satan's
great tribulation, WWIII, and it is to stop Satan's wrath
and man's WWIII. God
makes war with man in order to stop man from making Satan-inspired
genocidal war against himself. The Classic pre-millennial interpretation is
that Satan's WWIII will last 2.5 years and God's wrath-the
Day of the Lord-will last one year, making a total of 3.5
years. The two events
are different in that who is causing one is not the same as
Who is causing the other.
People often make the mistake of lumping the tribulation
period in with God's wrath, the Day of the Lord, simply because
one follows directly after the other. What actually occurs, is that God's wrath puts
an end to the Satanic wrath of two warring world powers who
are about to destroy all life from off this planet.
God's action is to bring a stop to man's genocidal
action.] Paul says "Don't you remember what I wrote you?"
Let's see, where does he say that?
Verse 5, "Don't you remember that while I was with
you, I was telling you these things." What things?
Well, back in 1st Thessalonians 1:10 it
says that 'he's proud of them, of how they turned from idols
to serve a living and true God, and that they're waiting for
his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is-read
it with me-"Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." Jesus does what? "He delivers us from"-what?-the wrath that's
coming. Well, that's not hell, by the way. That's not hell that I'm delivered from. Because I was delivered from hell the moment
I believed, when I was saved.
I was saved from hell.
I'll never experience hell.
That's not the wrath of God. Hell is never called the wrath of God. It's called eternal punishment, it's called
everlasting punishment. But
it's not called the wrath of God.
The wrath of God is that 7-year period, specifically
the last three and a half years, of the 7 last years of earth's
history-earth as we know it. We have been saved from the wrath that's coming,
through Jesus Christ. Chapter
5, verse 9, we'll read another verse, he's saying 'Don't you
remember what I said when I was with you?
1st Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 9, "For"
read it with me, "God has not destined us for wrath, but for
obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." Can you imagine somebody, a new bride-groom,
picking a bride, and he looks for the most beautiful, he's
waiting, this is the woman of his dreams, and before they
can even get to the aisle, he carries her and throws her in
a sewer? And he's doing
it in order to purify her.
Can you imagine doing that to your precious bride?
Not on your life. You
see, the Church is on the way to the wedding ceremony, the
wedding supper of the Lamb.
And we've been taught [erroneously by some who cannot
properly interpret the Word of God] that the Church would
be put into the tribulation, the Church would be kept through
it, oh it would be all around us, it'll be affecting us, we'd
better flee to the mountains, we'd better go buy property
up in Bumblebee or someplace, go to Buzzard's Gulch and live
there and stockpile our food and sure we've got water and
guns. And I know people, I know a church not too far
from here that had people buy land in bizarre places that
no one's ever heard of and no one would ever want to go to.
No wonder they'd be safe, they can't even find the
land they bought, there's no roads to get to the land they
bought. Preparing, preparing, preparing. I tell you, as I read the book of Revelation
there's nothing you can do to prepare for earthquakes that
will shake every mountain, that will cause every island in
the sea to disappear! [Look up http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg6.htm
.] Now tell me, how
do you prepare for that if you live in Hawaii?
Your island is going to sink and disappear.
Get a life-raft? All
the great cities of the earth crash in earthquakes.
All the trees and the forests burn down.
There's no food, everyone around you has gone crazy.
There's demons in human form, there's demons not in
human form, they're everywhere.
How are you going to prepare for this?
Your stockpile of food is going to get you through
this? Give me a break.
There's no preparing for it. Jesus said, "unless that time were shortened,
no one would be alive." I'm
not going to be here, and I'll tell you, and I'll tell you
why I know I'm not going to be here, because it says Jesus
has not destined me for wrath, but for salvation, through
my Lord Jesus Christ." God
hasn't destined me for wrath.
And probably the most beautiful and clear and precious
promise given to Church concerning our absence during the
great tribulation is in Revelation chapter 3. Let's turn there, Revelation chapter 3, verse
7. There are seven
messages to seven churches at the beginning of the book of
Revelation. They are messages from Jesus Christ to his Church.
They were seven real churches at the time, in Asia
Minor. However, the
messages of to these churches also represents seven periods
[or era's] of church history, and it fits like a glove.
You have an Ephesus period [from 31-32AD to John and
Polycarp in the early 100s AD], you have a Smyrna period,
a Pergamum period, a Thyratira period, a Sardis period, a
Philadelphia period, a Loadocian period. Check the pages out in Revelation on the churches,
and I think you'll get a kick out of them. The Lord really taught us a lot. [The Sabbatarian
branch of the body of Christ has traced out what they believe
were their seven era's corresponding to the messages to the
seven churches in Asia Minor in Revelation chapters 2-3.
A copy of this history is at http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/revivals.htm . To this time I have not been able to trace out
seven distinct revivals or periods in the Church for the New
Testament, non-Torah observant side of the body of Christ.
It doesn't mean there weren't five distinct era's or
periods, as there probably have been, leading up to the last
two-Philadelphia and Laodicea-the two era's that are prophecied
to co-exist side by side in the "end times"-one is offered
protection (either by a rapture to heaven or being removed
to a place of safety, we'll have to wait and see which comes
true)-the other goes into the tribulation and suffers martyrdom.
That is what Revelation 3:7-21 says, not me.
Read it for yourself.]
But we Scripturaly and prophetically are living in
the last two churches here [isn't that what I said?]
There are two churches [or church periods or era's],
actually there's sort of three. But that last two churches that have any life
in them [again, he's talking about church era's or periods,
what also might be termed as revivals] in the end-time is
the Church of Philadelphia (which can be translated "brotherly
love") and the Church of Laodicea. It's interesting, the Church of Laodocia is
a church that is into positive confession.
Did you know that?
Look at verse 14. The
Church of Laodicea, the luke-warm church that God's about
ready to throw-up over. And that's not being gross, that's just what
he says. "And to the
angel of the church in Laodicea write the Amen, the Faithful
and True Witness, the beginning of the creation of God says
this, 'I know your deeds, that you're neither cold nor hot.
I would that you were cold or hot.
So because you're luke-warm and neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth (the word is "vomit you").
Because you say."-here we go, brother Copeland, brother
Hagen, all of our positive confession people-it's prophecied
this would be in the last days-"'I am rich, I have become
wealthy, and have need of nothing', and you don't know that
you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked."
Here's a church that is known for walking around making
amazing statements, "I'm healed, I'm rich, I have need of
nothing". And the Lord says that's a bunch of bunk.
You're wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked,
why don't you admit it and buy some from me what you need.
You need gold tried in the fire, you need eye-salve
so you can see, you need white raiment to cover up the shame
of your nakedness. "Be
zealous therefore and repent.
As many as I love I rebuke." 'That's why I chasten.' And so, if you're in that, if you're in that
movement, or you have friends that are in that movement, or
you're leaning that way, you'd better pay attention to the
Word of God. The Word of God prophecied that in the last
days there would be that kind of a movement.
And one of the last-day churches would be saying those
things. And yet, they're really dead inside. They're wretched, poor, blind and naked. I'm reading the book right now about the fellow
that was really involved in the PTL scandal. Dortch's book, "Integrity, How I Found It" or
something like that. And
Rev. Dortch was heavily involved in this ministry.
And here on the outside is a ministry that looked rich,
and yet he tells us what the people were seeing on TV, then
he tells you everything that was going on underneath all of
that, and it was wretched, miserable, poor, blind, nakedness
is what it was. And
it fit the Church of Laodicea perfectly, great on the outside,
inside, nauseating. Make sure your faith in Christ is a real thing,
get real with God. Don't
get into appearances. What's
important is what's on the inside, what's important is the
truth. And that's why
the message to Philadelphia is one we're zeroing in on now,
because I believe that most of you are members of the Church
of Philadelphia. I'll tell you if you ask me, 'Where's your church
membership?' I'm going
to say "Philadelphia". Why
Mark? Because that's the church I want to be a part
of. Why?
Well, read it, listen to what Jesus says to that last-day
church. "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia
write, 'He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David,
who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens
says this. I know your deeds, behold I have put before
you an open door which no man can shut because you have a
little power and have kept my word, and have not denied my
name. Behold I will
cause those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews
and are not but lie, behold I will make them to come and bow
down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
Because you have kept the word of my perseverance
I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which
is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell
upon the earth. I am coming quickly, hold fast what you have
in order that no one takes your crown" (Revelation 3:7-11). That's where I want my church membership.
I don't care if I'm on anybody else's [membership]
role. I want to be
on the role of the church of Philadelphia. It's an interesting church, it's a church that
in the last day faces three things.
If faces, number 1, it faces he says "You have a 'little
power'. The church that doesn't have a great involvement
in signs and wonders. It's
not known as the power church. You have a little power. It's not a church that's goes forth with tremendous
healing crusades, and raising the dead and casting out demons-it's
really not known for that, although those things happen in
it. It's the church that has a little power.
Significant that he said that.
Significant in today's church growth movement which
is power evangelism. It's a big
deal today, coming out of Fuller Seminar today, power evangelism. Sorry, he didn't say he was going to build his
church with power evangelism.
He says 'You have a little power.'
And then he goes on, it's going to be a church that
faces a second problem, it's second problem is 'You've kept
my word.' In other
words, there's going to be widespread setting aside the Bible
and going on to other things.
There will be widespread appearance of apostles and
prophets, men who will have fresh words from
God. But
they don't agree with God's Word from God.
We're living in a day when men proclaim to be as much
an authority and speak as inspired as the apostle Paul.
We're living in a day today when people are departing
on every hand from the Word of God.
We're living in a day today where our university, our
Christian university here in town, now has professors who
don't teach that the six days of creation were six days. They were long periods of time. Why didn't God know that? Why has he been deceiving us for all these years,
using the word for 24-hour periods, the first day, the second
day. Why did God even have to say "the evening and
the morning"? What's
the matter with him? Oh,
there weren't scientists around yet to tell him what he was
doing. That's the problem.
Now we've got these scientists, and they know everything
(this month). [laughter] Until
their theory changes. They
sold their bookstore to a secular company.
And now their college students are coming to
me and telling me, 'Mark, there's dirty cards in the store.
There's books that teach evolution in the store.' It doesn't sound like a grand university to
me. There will be a
massive departure from the Word of God.
'But, the church
in Philadelphia kept MY Word!' Every word
of the Book, we can trust, gang.
Every word has been inspired by God and is trustworthy. You can bet your life on it and count your life
on it. And there's
going to be a church in the last days that lives like the
Bible is true, and they act like the Bible is true, and they
make decisions for themselves and their families and for their
livelihood, for their careers based on the idea that the Bible
is true. And Jesus
loves that. And then he said, thirdly, it's a church that
hasn't denied his name. Yes
see that? "And you
have not denied my name."
"You've kept my word, and you haven't denied my name."
This Scripture, the Lord really just brought it to
my heart once several years ago. Lesley working with a group of people, and one
of them was a very Jewish, but secular Jewish person, but
very much into Jewish culture, and very, very, very, very
Jewish. And her daughter was getting married. And it was a big deal. All the uncles, all the aunts were coming from
all over the country, and they were going to have it [the
wedding] at the big resort over here, and they asked me if I would perform the ceremony. And I was so knocked over, I thought 'me? I'm not
a rabbi. I'm just me. Sure, what an honor.' And I remember being in the elevator,
leaving the office, and the Holy Spirit saying 'Oh, you're
a smart guy, aren't you. You're
just real smart, thanks for asking me if that's what you should
do.' 'What, Lord?
What a neat opportunity to witness.'
And I did remember she says, 'You could just have a
little prayer at the end.'
And the Spirit looked in my heart and said, 'How are
you going to pray?' 'Oh
no, in Jesus name?' [laughter] Well, I sweated and prayed, and sweated and
tried to figure out a way to do it without saying Jesus name,
and the Holy Spirit took me to this verse "I put before you
an open door and no one can shut because you have a little
power and have kept my word and not denied my name." Oh, yo, I
thought I could pray "In God's name."
'Jesus, you're God, right?'
I could pray in Yahweh's name.
I know Jesus is Jehovah.
"You have not denied my name."
Oh, don't you just know how it feels when the Lord
gets you good, you know, and it's like, wiggle out boy, you
try to get out of it, squirm but there's no way buddy boy. 'I've got you!' 'Ok, I'll tell her I'm going to pray 'in Jesus name'. I went to her, and I said, "You know, I've just
got one problem." "What?
what?" I said
"The prayer at the end." "Yeah,
yeah, the family is just looking forward to you, coming." I said, "But we got to pray 'In Jesus name.'"
"Absolutely not! Absolutely not! No!, it's over! We'll get someone else, don't worry about it!"
She almost ran away from me. But man, how things can change over one word,
you know. Jesus [Yeshua
for our Jewish believers].
And I'm never going to be ashamed of my Lord ever again.
I never was to begin with, but I was thinking maybe
I could get around him, but [laughter].
No, he said 'It's really better to witness and use
my name, Mark, than witness and not ever mention my name.'
[laughter] Why are you laughing? Can you relate? You've never done anything like that, right?
But he says, here's a church that is faithful in the
last days, faithful to the Word, faithful to the name of Christ
[whether that be Jesus Christ or Yeshua haMeshiach, in it's
Hebrew version], faithful even though people persecute them. Verse 9 talks about people who say they're of
the Lord, but they're not, and they're fighting you, and he
says, 'Don't worry about them, I'll take care of them.'
A church that's causing some waves now and then, he
says 'Don't worry, some day they'll bow at your feet.'
Verse 10 is the precious promise.
Every saint here ought to cling
to it, and if you can understand the English language, you've
got hope, verse 10.
"Because
you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will
keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about
to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon
the earth."
[King
James Version: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."]
The Lord says to the faithful church, he says, 'The
sphere of the trial that's coming is worldwide. There's no rock, no cave, no secret place you
can hide from this, the whole world will be involved in this
hour of trial or testing.
So that's the only way that I can protect you, my children,
since this is worldwide, is to take you out of the world.'
[Comment: As we shall see in another study to go with
this one, the Bible also mentions a "place of safety". The Calvary Chapel's do admit and say some of
the Israeli Jewish believers will go to this "place of safety". The Bible itself merely implies that believers
will go there. Looking
at all the Scriptures that seem to support a rapture in these
two studies in Romans, and all the ones that seem to support
a "place of safety" (as I will try to present in an unbiased
fashion in another study following this one) show the Bible
is fuzzy on the final place we go to, whether a "rapture"
or "place of safety." This
leads me to believe that the Lord doesn't want us to make
a big issue of where we go, just the fact that, yes,
we will be protected, and it's up to him to get us there and
let us know the specific details when the time comes.]
You see, that hour of testing that's coming on the
whole world, there's no safe place to go.
What is the hour of testing?
It's the hour of God's judgment.
Revelation chapter 14, verse 7 says, "And he said with
a loud voice, 'Fear God and give him glory because the hour
of his judgment has come.
And worship him who made the heaven and the earth and
the sea and the springs of the water.'"
This hour that's coming is the hour of God's judgment
on the earth. I know
we don't like to hear about judgment, I don't like preaching
about judgment, but it's coming whether we talk about it or
not. And most of the world doesn't know what's happening.
What if you knew the hurricane was coming, you're at
the national or international weather bureau and you see it
building and cooking and you begin to see it pick up speed
and go toward the coast of North Carolina.
But you know people don't like bad news.
And you don't want them mad at you.
And so you just decide you won't say anything. After all, you're safe, you're in Oregon or
someplace where they don't have hurricanes and tornadoes. You're safe.
What meanness. What
is your responsibility? What
cruelty, what absurdness to not tell the people that the disaster
was coming. We need to warn our world that a time is coming
when the earth is going to be judged by God. And we had better get the word out, because
right now there's a open door.
You see, to the church of Philadelphia there's an open door, "I've opened the door and no man can shut." [Comment: Here
you have it from Pastor Mark, from a Calvary Chapel that preaches
the gospel of Christ, that this gospel should also include
a warning to the world around us, a warning of what's coming.
Throughout church history, the gospel preached had
no need of a warning element being added to the gospel of
salvation-it wasn't time or close to the time of the end.
Now Jesus himself may start inspiring some of his Holy
Spirit led and inspired churches to add a warning element
to their preaching of the gospel of salvation. It is appropriate for the times we find ourselves
living in.] You want
to know what the door is, read [Revelation] 4 verse 1, it's
the door into heaven. It's through the Church of Jesus Christ on earth
in these last days that you can escape the wrath that's coming,
and you can come into heaven.
There's an open door right now.
Jesus said "I am the door."
"No one can come into the sheepfold except through
me." Jesus is the door.
The hour of testing is the great tribulation that's
coming upon the whole world. But we are going to be kept, not safely through
it, but kept out of it, kept out of it.
It says that the church will be kept "from the hour of testing or trial."
That is the time, the very time, the very hour
of the great tribulation.
Why? Because Jesus took that hour for us. Hold your finger here and go to Mark, chapter
14. Jesus is entering
into the garden of Gestheneme, asking his disciples to please
pray with him, just before he's arrested.
This is where he is surrendering his will completely
to God. Mark 14, verse
35, "And he went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground
and began praying that if it were possible the"-what?-"hour might
pass from him." The
hour of God's judgment, the hour of God's wrath is what was
poured out on Jesus Christ, Yeshua haMeshiach.
That entire Calvary event, that entire cross event.
Why am I going to be kept out of it?
Because, hallelujah! He took it for me!
He took the hour for me.
There's no hour left for me to serve.
He took it all for me.
[and this goes for whichever interpretation you believe,
"place of safety" or "Rapture", these are "common-ground"
passages.] And in case
you're interested in the Greek, the Greek is even more convincing,
because the Greek actually says here "I will keep you tareoek" is the
word in Greek, which means "I will keep you out"-or to "keep out of". Jesus is choosing the words, I guess he knew
what he wanted to say. He
knew that if he wanted to say "I will keep you in" the trial,
like "keep you in, but safe" it would be tareoen, en. Or if you take you through it, it
could be tareothea. But instead, he says "I will keep
you tareoek.".But there are a lot of people
who teach that well, you're going to go into the time of the
tribulation, just part of the process, even though the Bible
says you'll be saved from the wrath of God through him.
Even though it says God hasn't destined you for wrath
(they're saying) God is still going to put you in the great
tribulation. But he'll
keep you safe in it. [Pastor
Mark is not mentioning that the other major pre-millennial
interpretation is the "place of safety" interpretation, which
the Bible also mentions, but in the same vague manner that
the rapture is covered in.
This interpretation says that those of the Philadelphia
era are going to be taken out of the way before the tribulation
starts by being taken into a "place
of safety". Pastor
Mark does mention that Jewish believers in Israel will be
saved in a "place of safety". We'll if
Messianic Jewish believers are saved and protected from the
tribulation, why would God discriminate and separate the two
parts of the body of Christ, taking one to heaven via a rapture
and leaving the other in "a place of safety"? Both are kept "from it", so why the difference?
This is something the pre-millennialists have to hammer
out amongst themselves amongst their various Bible scholars.
As believers, we have the freedom to believe either
way, since this is one of the fuzzy areas of Scripture in
this regards. Regarding
that we are promised protected from the hour of trial, that
is not a fuzzy,
gray area. That is
a firm Bible teaching.] The
verse says "I will keep you out, I'll keep you out", not "I'll keep you in" not "I'll keep your through it, but you'll be
OK, you'll come out on the other side", no, it's "I will take
out, alright, it's time, it's the hour, God's people go out!
Man, it's the rapture!
We're out! Not wrath, the rapture! Not going through, but out! You can't to heaven by hanging onto somebody
who's a Christian, OK. You
won't get very far.So our position is [that is, he's saying
this is Calvary Chapel's doctrinal stance on this subject],
that in heaven, we're going to be at the Marriage Supper of
the Lamb while all this is going on [i.e. the tribulation
and day of the Lord]. Then
we'll come back with the Lord in great glory, riding white
horses, we'll come back with the Lord, and establish his kingdom-but
only after his wrath has been thoroughly poured out upon the
world. "I will keep
you from the hour of testing, taeroek, I will keep you out
of the hour of testing." So
I don't care what they say on Christian TV, I don't care what
the debates are, turn the blab off, OK.
And just believe the Word of God.
The final
point is this. This
is the judgment that you're headed for if you don't know Christ. And here in the last couple of minutes I would
like to make an appeal to you, if you're here, and you do
not know for sure where you're going to be when that hour
comes. You make the decision not at that hour, it's
too late then. You
have to make your reservation now [and this applies regardless
of whether you believe in a rapture or going to a place of
safety]. You have to
make your reservation for heaven now. You have to confirm it now. The promise of Revelation 3:10 is only for those
who have kept the word, who have believed in the name of Jesus,
who have the Holy Spirit living in them.
It's not for those who have just been baptized, hey
I'm an American, so I'm a Christian. Hey, I'm a Catholic aren't I. I'm going when they go, right? I don't know.
Not necessarily. My
Bible doesn't say become a Baptist or a Catholic or a Presbyterian
or a Lutheran and you shall be saved, it says "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."
And that "believe on" means you rest your whole life
on him, you let him be your Lord. Where are you going, are you going up? Or are you going in? Are you going to go through this? Or are you going to be kept from it? See, one of the interesting things is, if we
go through that tribulation, in my Bible, as I read through
verses 6 through 19 I see a lot of saints that are dying.
There will be people saved during the tribulation,
but they won't be "Church" saints.
They'll be "tribulation saints."
And there's a difference. After the rapture [or going to a "place of safety",
whichever it is], you'll give your life for your faith, if
you could believe. But
he says to the church in Philadelphia, "because you've kept
my word, and you haven't denied my name, I'll keep you from
the hour of testing that's coming upon the whole world."
We're not going through it. Hey, we have a lot of tribulation in the world
[don't believe that, read Saga of the Pilgrims at http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/saga.htm
]. And that's the world's
tribulation thrown at us, but we're never going to experience
what God's going to throw at this planet.
We'll be out of here, like Enoch, like Lot, we'll be
gone. [I find it interesting,
Enoch may have been taken to heaven, it doesn't say. Or he may have been transported to another location
on earth like Elijah was in the Lord's flaming chariot (don't
believe me, look it up). Lot
was "transported on his own two feet to another tiny city,
and then a cave. So in these two examples, one perhaps could
have gone to heaven, the other found safety in a cave. Like I said, the Bible gets real fuzzy beyond
the stated fact that we'll be protected.
It gets real fuzzy as to where the place of protection
is going to be, whether heaven or perhaps the caves of Petra.
We've seen the passages Dispensational Pre-millennialists
use to try to prove a rapture takes place.
We'll next look at the passages that mention a place
of safety that is still on this planet.
As you will see, if you add all these passages up,
the Bible is fuzzy on the subject, not dogmatic. The Bible is dogmatic only up to the point of
promising we'll be protected-that's it folks.
Where or how is left in the gray, fuzzy area. And the Lord probably did this intentionally.
Why? Because he didn't want us majoring in a subject
he views as minor-the subject of how we can save our butts
in the physical sense. Christianity
has never been a how
we can save our butts religion, it has always been more about how you can give your
life for the cause of Christ.
Even though I used to believe in the "place of safety"
scenario, I have stepped back from believing either way, simply
because it's not important. The Lord promised, I'll trust him to do it in
whichever way he chooses to.
Which interpretation is more defensible?
I have my own opinions.
But this site is neutral on that subject.
You as a believer have to add up all the passages pro
and con for each interpretation and come to your own conclusion.
If you fellowship with and are as member of a Dispensational
Pre-millennialist denomination, and you believe in the Classic
pre-millennial interpretation of a "place of safety", then
you are obliged to follow Paul's instructions in Romans 14
about personal spiritual beliefs in secondary areas. "Have faith to yourself" is what he says in
Romans 14:22. In other
words, don't let your own personal secondary spiritual beliefs
be divisive within the group you fellowship and worship with-keep
your mouth shut on those topics. This site does not take stands one way or the
other on divisive secondary teachings, but carefully provides
teaching on both sides of the issues and let's the believer-reader
decide for himself/herself what they are going to believe
in those areas. Your
beliefs should always be a result of careful, prayerful Bible
study more than the opinions of others.
Let your prayerful, careful studies lead to a Holy
Spirit inspired proper interpretation of God's Word.
And remember, all these twiggy secondary beliefs one
way or the other will evaporate at Jesus, Yeshua's 2nd
coming. Within the time-span of God's 7,000 year plan
of salvation for humans the rapture or living in a place of
safety for three and a half years or seven years at the longest
occupies a very short percentage of time-0.1 percent.
How much effort do you think we as churches and denominations
should put forth promoting and/or teaching about going to
a "place of safety" or going up in a "rapture" for an event
that occupies 0.1 percent of the time-span God has allotted
in his plan of salvation for humans?
I think this is a question that leaders of the various
Holy Spirit led and inspired Christian and Messianic Jewish
denominations need to seriously consider-because some of you
guys are going all out, expending time and money, the Lord's
money, on a subject the Bible itself isn't all that clear
on. Isn't that a misuse of funds and time-both resources
that Lord has given us to do a job (Matthew 28:18-20; 24:14)?] The Bible also says Christ died for sins once
for all, that the just for the unjust in order that he might
bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but
made alive in the spirit. The Bible says that if you would believe in
Jesus (Yeshua), you could be declared not guilty by faith,
and then you could have peace with God.
The Bible says if you have been declared not guilty
by the blood of Jesus, then you will be saved from the wrath
of God that's coming. The
judgment is coming. One
last verse, John 5:24, and I'm going to ask you to make a
response to John 5:24, you're going to say "yes" or "no".
You're going to believe or not believe this morning.
There's no middle ground.
Jesus says if you're not for me, you're against me.
There's not straddling the fence.
John 5:24 declares, "Truly, truly I say to you, he
who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal
life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out
of death into life." Can
you this morning say with absolute assurance that you will
not come into judgment? Do
you know for sure that
you've passed out of death into life?
If you don't, you need to be sure, and you can be sure
by walking through the door.
He says, "Behold I set before you an open door."
I'd like
us now to bow our heads, to close our eyes. And if somebody would just open that big double
door over there in the back, wide open, both doors. Because that's the invitation, he says "I've
set before you an open door, which no man can shut." Now if God doesn't open the door for you, you
can't believe in Jesus [cf. John 6:44,65].
Because he says "when I shut, no one can open it." There can come a day when it is too late, for
you to call on God. [And
I would like to add this, that open door statement also refers
to doors Jesus opens for us to help our efforts to evangelize,
spreading the gospel around the world. It applies here, like Pastor Mark shows, to
our individual callings, being able to come to salvation through
Jesus, yes, that is a door Jesus and the Father have opened
for each and every one of us.
But it also applies to doors Satan would like to see
shut, but Jesus opens for us, doors for evangelism. These doors too will be shut someday. Why? We'll
be gone, one way or another, we'll be gone, no longer on the
scene. Nothing but
tribulation saints will be left.
And yes, they will have a chance to evangelize, but
the price will be paid with their very lives. And when they've all died, the doors will be
shut.] The door won't
open. But this morning, the Bible says 'today is ["a"]
day of salvation. Today
if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart.'
Right now God is inviting you to come to him.
Just as these doors are symbolically open right now. The time is now. Right now, if you would pray a prayer with me,
you could be saved from the wrath to come."
[Transcript of Pastor J. Mark Martin, Calvary Community
Church, PO Box 39607, Phoenix, AZ
85069]
[All comments in brackets [ ] are
mine. editor]
Pastor Mark was about to give the
prayer of salvation. I
have inserted a written version of this prayer below for your
convenience.
The following
is excerpted from Dr. Mark Eastman's "Creation by Design" and answers a vital question many non-believers
have once they have seen God's existence in Scripture and
seen his Word in Scripture proven beyond a doubt.
Many may wonder, what next?
What should I do with this vital information?
"How to Become a Christian" [4 steps]
First of all, you must recognize that you are
a sinner.
Realize that you have missed the mark. This is true of each of us. We have deliberately crossed the line, not once,
but many times. The
Bible says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God" (Romans 3:23).
This is a hard admission for many to make, but if we
are not willing to hear the bad news, we cannot appreciate
and respond to the good news.
Second, we must realize that Jesus
Christ died on the cross for us. Because of sin, God had to take drastic measures
to reach us. So He
came to this earth and walked here as a man.
But Jesus was more than just a good man.
He was the God-man--God incarnate--and that is why
His death on the cross is so significant.
At the cross, God Himself--in the person
of Jesus Christ--took our place and bore our sins. He paid for them and purchased our redemption.
Third, we must repent of our sin. God has commanded
men everywhere to repent.
Acts 3:19 states, "Repent
therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence
of the Lord." What
does this word repent
mean? It means to change
direction--to hang a U-turn on the road of life.
It means to stop living the kind of life we led previously
and start living the kind of life outlined in the pages of
the Bible. Now we must change and be willing to make a
break with the past. [I
would like to point out here, that this initial repentance,
U-turn, is not anywhere near the total life-change that Jesus
will enable within you later on. This only comes after this next "fourth step",
mentioned below. It
is not really possible for humans to follow God's will, expressed
by his perfect law of liberty, until after receiving Jesus
Christ into one's life. That is why the saying, "Come as you" are is
spoken so often by most pastors, in context with this understanding.]
Fourth, we must receive Jesus Christ (Yeshua haMeshiach
for our Jewish readers) into our hearts and lives. Being a Christian
(or Messianic believer) is having God Himself take residence
in our lives. John
1:12 tells us, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave
the right to become the children of God."
[Also be sure to read John 14, where Jesus explains
how He and the Father dwell within us by the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit.] Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will
come in." (Revelation 3:20).
Each one of us must individually decide to open that
door. How do we open
it? Through prayer.
If you have never asked Jesus Christ
to come into your life, you can do it right now. Here is a suggested prayer you might even pray:
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I am sorry
for my sin. I turn
and repent of my sins right now.
Thank You for dying on the cross for me and paying
the price for my sin. Please come into my heart and life right now.
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me to be Your
disciple. Thank You
for forgiving me and coming into my life.
Thank You that I am now a child of Yours and that I
will receive Eternal life.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
When you pray that prayer, God will respond. You have made
the right decision--the decision that will impact how you
spend eternity. In
the meantime, find peace and the answers to your spiritual
questions. [This website is loaded with answers to your questions.
I.e. Who is Jesus?--log onto http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/1stcoming.htm.]
If you just became a Christian, it is
highly recommended that you find a Christian
church to fellowship and grow spiritually in. You are now part of the body of Christ. You are a young
Christian needing spiritual food to grow on. Fellowshipping with other Christian brothers
and sisters is also an essential part of the Christian's growth
and life. It is therefore recommended that you find some
evangelical Christian church (or Messianic congregation) that
your feel comfortable attending."
[To learn more about making an intelligent
choice about which Christian or Messianic congregation to
attend, log onto http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/choosingachurch.htm
.]
Read
Petra - The Perfect Place of Saftey
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