Not Easily Shaken

2 Thess 2: 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

The day of Christ, also known as the day of the Lord will not come until the falling away (apostasy), and the revelation of anti-christ. The falling away (apostasy) is in full blossom today, no more waiting for that, next thing up to enable the day of the Lord to proceed is the unveiling of the anti-christ.

The anti-christ shows up on the world stage NOT making peace pacts, but CONQUERING.

Rev 6 Then I saw the lamb open the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Go!” 2Then I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow, and a victor's crown had been given to him. He went out as a conqueror to conquer.

Notice with me that not a word about 'peace' is spoken there when the seal is opened, or any of the seals that follow the first seal.

Just before Paul speaks of the "day of the Lord" and the things that must happen before the day of the Lord, he mentions our gathering together unto Jesus...also known as the rapture.

2 Thess 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

2 entirely different events are pictured here: 1. our gathering together unto him (the escape) and 2. the day of Christ. Paul comforts the thessalonian church by telling them that the escape preceeds the day of the Lord, and the falling away/reveal of anti-christ comes before the day of the Lord. So don't be troubled thinking the day of the Lord is upon you. The same comfort applies to us today. What we are seeing around us is NOT the day of the Lord.....however....the apostasy is full blown, and the revelation of anti-christ could happen in one hour of one day, in other words, NOW, any time now. Which means what? If the escape preceeds the day of the Lord, and the day of the Lord is almost upon us, the escape is imminent.

Picture for a moment what one day in the future might look like:

In the early dark of some morning, POOF those found worthy are gathered to the Lord. The world wakes up to chaos, people missing, and organizational chaos. Then this figure shows up on the world stage CONQUERING. He is marvelously good at war and rapidly defeats those he attacks. This puts us at seals 2-6 of Rev 6, and it can all happen in one day. In the same way that so called christianity supported the wars of George Bush, they will support the wars of anti-christ. You can be sure that he knows how to wave a flag and get you motivated for his causes. Any figure who does show up to make peace in the middle east won't be the anti-christ. When someone can show me a peace deal with Israel in Rev 6 I'll change my mind. There's no peace deal in Daniel 9:27 either when you read the septuagint, the most accurate translation of the old testament.

Dan 9:27 (septuagint) And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end shall be put to the desolation.

I don't see anything about a peace deal with Israel and anti-christ there^^^^^nothing...

Now that we are in a new year, my internal clock has reset to countdown between now and Rosh Hashanah 2009. The Lord could pull us out of here at any moment now, but Rosh Hashanah is the one time of year that has escape written all over it. These are exciting times. We are living out the end of the world that people have wondered about for thousands of years, we are LIVING IT! Its easy to get caught up in the day to day small things and miss the big picture.

Remember the double edged sword we live: 1 side of the sword is the patience to wait for the escape for another 100 years if we need to. The other side of the sword is the readiness to leave this earth TODAY if Jesus should call on us. We have to do both. It's easy to do one or the other , but not both, and become unstable.

Life does'nt go on hold while we expect Jesus to show up. We are servants with talents in our hands today (Matt 25) and we are expected to do something with them. What we are called to do, with what talents we have is a matter for you and the Spirit of God to figure out. No other man can tell you what you are supposed to learn through your relationship with Jesus Christ. No amount of "fee for service" jiffy lube christianity will clue you into what it is the Lord would have you do. Whats in your heart to do for him? What can you do with the little strength that we, the Philadelphia church, has these days? Things that seem little to you, can be very big to someone else. A little seed can grow into a very large tree. One man plants, another waters, but only the LORD makes things grow...

1 Corinthians 3 :6 (YLT) Who, then, is Paul, and who Apollos, but ministrants through whom ye did believe, and to each as the Lord gave? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was giving growth; 7 so that neither is he who is planting anything, nor he who is watering, but He who is giving growth -- God; 8 and he who is planting and he who is watering are one, and each his own reward shall receive, according to his own labour, 9 for of God we are fellow-workmen; God's tillage, God's building ye are.

Remain "in Christ", be pure in heart, time is short, grace and peace