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The Tribulation is Now:
The tribulation is now.
For His name’s sake, that is, because we call ourselves CHRISTIAN, we are
now hated by all. Our nation’s federal government hates us. We are hated
by other nations’ governments, especially so by the United Nations. And,
as
our Lord predicted, we are hated by the rest - Muslims, Jews, atheists,
pagans and satanists. They hate us because we profess Jesus Christ as
Lord
and Savior.
Judge Roy Moore knows that the tribulation is now. His fellow Judges on
the
Supreme Court of Alabama betrayed him. He probably considered many of
them
to be “friends”. He was “delivered up” to Alabama’s Court of the
Judiciary,
which removed him as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama.
His
offense? He honored God when a federal judge told him not to.
According to Pastor Chuck Baldwin, three times Judge Moore was asked by
David Pryor, his own State’s Attorney General, whether he would renounce
his
right to acknowledge God. Three times, Judge Moore said “No.”
Christians who oppose abortion know that the tribulation is now. Those
who
defend unborn children are imprisoned or executed. Within the past two
years, three men on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted List” were pro-life
Christians
- James Kopp, Clayton Wagner and Eric Rudolph. One defender of the
unborn,
Paul Hill, has been put to death.
Many Christians who peacefully protest the legalized killing of unborn
children are also in prison, because federal courts found them guilty of
violating FACE, the federal “Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.”
David Limbaugh knows the tribulation is now. His new book, “PERSECUTION”,
describes how our own government persecutes Christians for acting upon, or
even expressing, their religious beliefs. Here in the United States.
Not
in the future, but now.
All across the United States, brave Christians are being “delivered up” to
courts who punish them for believing, and acting, like Christians. Our
Lord
warned us that the tribulation would consist of courts persecuting
Christians. The English translation of the Gospel of Mark refers to
“councils”, but the Greek word used by the original gospel is “sunadrion”,
which may be translated as “court”. Its cognate, Sanhedrin, was the
Jewish
court. Likewise, when the Gospel of Mark refers to “governor”, it uses
the
Greek word “basileus”, which may be translated as ‘a ruler in charge of
criminal procedures”, that is, a judge. Pontius Pilate was the Roman
Governor of Judea, he also purported to be the judge of Jesus Christ.
But if in fact the tribulation is now, then have “many false prophets”
arisen?
First, let us ask, are there those among us who trade in prophecy? Who
profit from telling Christians what we want to hear? For example, that
true
Christians will be “raptured” away and won’t have to face tribulation and
persecution? When Jesus expressly told us that we would?
Do some trade in prophecy but ignore the words of Jesus Christ? Jesus
said
Christians would be persecuted in the synagogues. Yet many who trade in
prophecy warn only about the persecution of Jews, and never speak about
Jewish persecution of Christians.
Have false prophets arisen? Let the reader decide.
If the tribulation is now, then how shall we endure? Jesus said that in
order to be saved, we must endure.
Shall we endure by waiting to be raptured away before the tribulation
grows
worse?
Shall we endure by ignoring the persecution of Christians in the United
States?
Shall we fight persecution by making war against the enemies of our
enemies?
That is, shall we enlist to fight the enemies of those who persecute
Christians? The enemies of the federal government? The enemies of the
United Nations?
Or shall we endure by opposing those who persecute us? By avoiding
tribute
in the form of taxes or military service? By letting Christian children
grow up outside government schools, without social security numbers? By
preparing to fight and survive? By making pilgrimage to new Christian
communities?
So instead of asking, as some do, “Who will face the tribulation?” let us
ask of every Christian:
“How shall we endure?”
X - In Hoc Signo Vinces
Luke Exilarch - luke@eXilemm.com
How Shall We Endure?
For they will deliver you up to councils;
any you will be beaten in synagogues
and you will stand before governors [...]
and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake
But he who endures to the end will be saved
Mark 13: 9-13 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Any many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved
Matthew 24: 9-13 But before all this they will lay hands on you and persecute you,
delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought
before kings and governors for my name’s sake [...] You will be delivered
up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some they will
put to death [...] you will be hated by all for my name’s sake [...] By your
endurance you will gain your lives
Luke 21: 12-19
November 19, 2003