The “Gospel” During the Great Tribulation

The Righteous Will Live by Faith

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The Third Message of the Gospel

The gospel during the Great Tribulation will not have 20 or 30 points of faith, a unified creed, a catechism or a set of doctrines that all believers agree with. Actually, the everlasting gospel during that time will center on one poignant point; “Worship God as He commands.” In Noah’s day, the testing truth was just as simple: “Get on the ark!” Both messages are based on a simple response. Both messages cut to the crucial point. The command in Revelation 14 to worship God stands in contrast to the demands of the crisis government and its evil leader. Worshiping God on His holy Sabbath will be a great test, for all people. Many Moslems, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and others from every language will be saved. God will not require everyone to adapt the Western culture or concepts of Christianity. All God wants to know during the Great Tribulation is whether or not we will put our faith in Him. The just (those justified) will live by faith! (Romans 1:17) Therefore, God sends a simple truth, an old truth, and a profound truth throughout the world. (Remember, the sacredness of His Sabbath rest began when the Lord rested at Creation, blessed it and then asked man to follow His example. Genesis 2:1-4) God sends His judgments, giving the great religions the world over an opportunity to organize as one global organization – proving that its leaders and all who follow, stand in direct opposition to His law. God watches as each person decides whom they will follow – this is how the test is implemented. Here is a profound point:  God is not concerned about all the other ideas we have and believe to be true about His ways, He is only interested in knowing whether we will be loyal to Him at any price. This is why the Sabbath rest test will be so direct and simple. Be prepared to stand-alone for God! History confirms that those who make a stand for Christ do not have the support of large numbers. Large denominations or religious groups from which to draw courage will not support the gospel proclaimed by the 144,000. Before we can stand together on the Sea of Glass, we have to stand-alone as Christ stood before His accusers. The servant is not greater than the Master.

The third message also reveals a great test of faith. Notice what it says: “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” (Revelation 14:9-12)

Antichrist will be Worshiped

God’s timing is perfect. Immediately after the fifth trumpet, when Satan appears claiming to be God, the third angel’s message is presented. (Revelation 9:1-11) This message is directed specifically at those people who have not yet submitted to the demands of the gospel. In the entire Bible, there is no stronger warning than this message. The message of Revelation 14:9-12 makes five declarations:

1. If anyone worships the devil (the Antichrist, the lamb-like beast) and receives his tattoo (the number 666 placed on the right hand or the name of the devil tattooed on the foreheads of his lieutenants), that person will receive the full wrath of God – no mercy will be shown.

2. Everyone who worships the devil (the beast) will be publicly tortured before Jesus and His angels because they willingly received the evil mark of the beast and stubbornly refused to acknowledge the Sovereignty of God. These also rejected the clearest evidences of truth.

3. Everyone who “goes along” with the devil (the beast) will have no peace of mind after making the decision.

4. The saints must endure this time-period patiently, for many will be killed because they refused to render homage to the Antichrist and his evil government.

5. The saints will be easy to identify during these days. They will worship God on His holy seventh day, whereas the devil and his followers will worship at another time. The two groups will stand in clearest opposition to one another – one group following the Lamb of God, the other submitting to the lamblike beast.

The third gospel message completes the test and causes the final separation of the faith-full from the cowards. (Revelation 21:8) Eventually, the whole world will submit to the crisis government and its glorious leader (the devil) – all except those who remain loyal to Jesus. The devil and his government will control the necessities of life and if anyone wishes to buy or sell or conduct commerce, he will have to show that he has the mark, the evil tattoo. Otherwise, he will be “cut off” from the meager supplies of food and medicines that are available. Understand the picture: The remaining assets of the world are under the control of Satan. Those who refuse to receive his mark have no option but to live by faith. It will be God who provides for people who remain loyal to Him, just as He provided for Elijah during the apostasy of Israel. (See 1 Kings 17.)

Last Call

A few days before God closes the door to mercy, just when it appears that Jesus has done everything to reach every person on earth with His everlasting gospel, He sends one last invitation to the rebels of Earth. God is not willing that anyone should perish. (2 Peter 3:9) Therefore, with the greatest of love, God reaches out to gather in that one last person who has not found the courage to take his stand for the right. At the conclusion of the gospel invitation, the power of the Holy Spirit is poured out as never before, urging people through the 144,000 to stand for Jesus Christ. There are two reasons for this. First, as just mentioned, God is waiting for the last decision to be made. Second, God wants a watching universe to witness a most amazing fact: When the truth is set before a “free will being” in the plainest and clearest terms, nothing more can be done to redeem that person if they choose to resist. In other words, God does not destroy anyone for being misled or believing a lie. Oh no, God only destroys people who stubbornly refuse to accept what is truth! Remember the problem with sinners? If the heart of a sinner remains unchanged and unrepentant, he is anti-God to the core. If possible, he would even destroy

God (as demonstrated by Lucifer)! Does this seem impossible? Read Revelation 17:14 and 19:19 and see what happens when Jesus comes. The wicked people on this earth will attempt to destroy Jesus and His Kingdom with whatever weapons of destruction they have at their disposal! Can you imagine how insane this attempt will be - mere men attempting to destroy God? Before you shake your head in disbelief, just remember that Lucifer led one-third of Heaven’s angels in an attempt to do the same thing. This is the nature of sin fully revealed for all that it is.

So, God reaches out one final time. Here is the message: “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.” (Revelation 18:1-5)

You do not need a high school diploma to understand this last message. You do not need a priest, rabbi, holy man or preacher to explain it to you. On the other hand, how tragic it is to realize that hundreds of millions of people will reject this serious warning? This is the very warning that introduces the seven bowls (seven last plagues) – the seven last plagues are not to be taken lightly. The world has never seen anything like them. They are awful and they are fitting. By the time, the people of Earth hear this message; they should be able to make a fair comparison. The seven trumpets (God’s wrath mixed with mercy) have occurred in precise order the Bible predicted they would. People will understand that the seven bowls (Gods wrath with no mercy) are next. By looking backward, they will be able to anticipate something of the future. Of course, the good news is that the seven bowls will not afflict the people of God who wait for their redemption. The seven last plagues are directed at those who receive the mark of the beast.

Summary

Now that we have considered the everlasting gospel that will be preached during the Great Tribulation, I will close on this thought: What do we learn about human nature when God is left with no other recourse than destruction to inform and save the human heart? Isn’t it wonderful that God’s final test for human is so simple, direct and easy to understand? Isn’t wonderful that God’s offer for salvation is so simple and direct? There is no wiggle room on what God wants. There is no way to pass the test without having complete faith in god for He will not accept anything less than total submission! He is Lord over all or He is not Lord at all. What God offers is far beyond anything we can return. Truly, His grace is amazing.

Jesus has promised, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) I like the words found in the song of Moses: “He [the Lord] is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4) Then again in Job: “It is unthinkable that god would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice.” (Job 34:12) From these texts and others used in this study, I am fully convinced that God has carefully designed the events of the Great Tribulation so that He can save the largest number of people possible!

 
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