And in the New Testament:
Back to The Purpose of The Great Tribulation
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:12)
Peter warns the Body of Christ of the final judgments that will purify the Wife of the Lamb, making her perfect in the sight of her Lord:
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved [is saved with difficulty], where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (I Peter 4:17,18)
There will be fiery trials in the last days that will bring forth a glorious church on the earth. The branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious for those of Israel who have escaped the seductions, lies, and terrors of Antichrist. The perfect Head will be placed on a perfect body.
Today the Lord Jesus is warning His Bride of the perilous times ahead. A minority of the believers are willing to hear about the coming days of suffering. They are humbling themselves and praying that Christ will protect them from the forces of spiritual destruction that they may be able to stand in triumph before Him.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36)
Because thou hast kept [guarded] the word of my patience, I also will keep [guard] thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)
The majority of the Christians are inflated with pride, taking the attitude that God loves them so much He will not allow them to suffer. Unless they repent they will go deeper into deception until they are fit only to be tormented in the Presence of the Lamb and the holy angels of God. The lukewarm believer responds to suffering with anger instead of with humility, patience, and trust in the Lord.
It is the writer’s point of view that the sufferings that lie ahead will cause the worldly Christians to become furious. They have not as yet reached the point where they are ready to shake their fists at God in Heaven—that will come later. Rather, they will turn their anger against the godly, joining with the secular government in a vicious persecution of the true saints.
We who are intense in our discipleship must prepare our hearts and minds for the coming persecution. All who practice godlinessshall suffer persecution—not those who merely believe in Jesus but whopractice godliness (II Timothy 3:12).
The spirit of humanism is in the churches. It is a God-murdering spirit. As soon as suffering begins, the majority of Christian believers will take the attitude that man is too important and too precious to God to be allowed to suffer. If the saints of old are witnessing what is taking place in the churches of today they must be shaking their heads in wonder at the ignorance of the ways of God that is current among us.
When persecution commences in the wealthy nations the Christian churches will be divided into two groups: the one group will endure as a persecuted minority until the Lord returns; the other will become large and wealthy, influencing the secular governments and world commerce.
The false prophets in the Charismatic churches already are speaking of the day when the world marvels because of the riches that God (supposedly) will give to His churches. Such false prophets preach what is called the "prosperity message." They represent the union of the Christian churches and the ungodly mammon (the spirit of worldly wealth). They are "Balaam."
The dividing has commenced. But it is the great tribulation that finally will separate the holy remnant from the mass of believers in Christ.
Before the great tribulation sets in, the Gospel of the Kingdom will go forth as a witness to every nation, as symbolized by the two witnesses of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation. Multitudes will be saved. It is only after the latter-rain revival has attained its worldwide witness that the great tribulation will commence.
There will be many lesser tribulations during the worldwide witness, as we understand the Scriptures. But the severest of all tribulations, that which—except for the elect’s sake—would threaten all life on our planet, will not take place until every nation has heard the Gospel of the Kingdom and has seen the power of the Lord Jesus.
Because there will remain an elect on the earth, the days of tribulation will be shortened.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:22)
The above verse reveals clearly that God’s elect will remain on the earth throughout the great tribulation. For those who maintain that the elect are Jews and not Gentiles, let us answer by saying that this teaching is anti-Semitic, unworkable in practical terms, and totally unscriptural. It is time for every conscientious believer to flee from the anti-Semitic teachings of Dispensationalism.