Devotions for 24th Jan 2017

1 Cor 15: 58

Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

This is a reminder from Paul that as we see the signs of the End Times on the earth we must be urgent in getting about doing the works of the Lord. In the earlier few verses from 50-57 Paul gave us the exact timing of the Rapture of the Church.

In verse 51-53 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed –in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with the immortality.

Before the Rapture can take place, the seven trumpets must sound and the timing is that the last trumpet or the seventh trumpet must sound first. The seventh trumpet will only sound after the tribulation period. Rev 11 verse 11 -15 described the sequence that the two witnesses must come during the time of the tribulation and at the end of it, both the twin witnesses will be killed by the Antichrist and then the 7^th trumpet will sound in verse 15. Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven……

It is now becoming clearer that the rise of the Antichrist in the world is going to be revealed very soon. The geo-political events that are happening very fast point towards the ushering in of the Antichrist into the world. The events around the nation of Israel are unfolding according to the prophecies in scriptures.

Already the UN and a group of nations are trying to force the division of the state of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. All these will lead to the emergence of the Antichrist into the world. The rise of radical terrorism in the world is another prominent sign that is spoken off in scriptures. This terrorism has accounted for hundreds of thousands of Christians being beheaded.

This is not surprising as John also saw the multitude of saints standing before God in heaven in Rev 7: 14 ….. and He said to me, these are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

What we see in the Middle East now with all the killing and beheading of Christians is already a fulfillment of verse 14 above. This will continue and will only increase worldwide as we see the radical terrorists invading countries world-wide sponsored by certain governments.

Now we are seeing the fulfillment of prophecies for the last days, this si where Paul is reminding the Church that we must now rise up and do the work of evangelism in saving souls of men and women.

Paul says, ‘let nothing move you.’ What he means is that we must not be distracted or discouraged, when we see the events around us, let us be more determined to do the work of the kingdom.