A Call To The Remnant

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. (Mat 24:9-10)

Jesus has much to say in Matthew 24 about the end times. Much has been written on this chapter and 2000 years later the eternal word of God continues to give us insight into the unfolding truths of our world and what shall be its end. Many times Jesus spoke in parables and often the truths of which He spoke were hidden from those who did not have ears to hear. Yet, it could be argued that this chapter may be the least ambiguous of anything spoken about the end times which so many brothers and sisters believe we are now living in.

In verses 9-10 we see a good example of plain speaking. There is coming a time when the saints will be hated by all the nations for the sake of the name of Jesus. There will also be mass betrayal and hatred among people who call themselves after the name of Jesus. People who read my writings will know that I refer to everything that calls itself by the name of Jesus as Christendom. And so as the world turns on genuine saints, so will those who are merely Christians in name only but do not belong to the Kingdom of God.

It cannot be argued by anyone that there has ever been a worldwide persecution of Christians. It has been localized.It has certainly spanned nations and sometimes continents but never has the whole world hated Christians. Yet this is what Jesus says is coming. Kingdoms would rise against Kingdoms, meaning countries and we have certainly seen that in two world wars. In the last century more people were killed in two world wars that in every other war in the history of the world combined. Yet Jesus said this would happen, but not only Kingdoms against Kingdoms but nations would rise against nations. The word nation in the Greek is ethnos, it is where we get our English word ethnic or ethnicity from. People groups within Kingdoms would rise up against each other. Right now we have no declared wars between Kingdoms, but we do have people groups within kingdoms tearing themselves apart and threatening the peace of the whole world by perpetrating unspeakable evil on their fellow man.

I want to tell my brothers and sisters that this is leading towards the whole world turning on Christians, genuine saints. Jesus Himself says that ” He who endures to the end shall be saved.”(Mat 24:13) He then goes on to say that the gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness and then the end shall come. There is a direct correlation between the world turning on the saints and the gospel of the Kingdom being preached to all the world as a witness and then the end coming. I would argue, that only in the depths and in the midst of the greatest persecution of the saints ever known, this world-wide hatred of us by all men everywhere at the same time for the sake of the name of Jesus, can the world truly see the gospel of the Kingdom lived out.

I want you to think about the phrase, ” The Gospel of the Kingdom.” David Bercot writes in The Kingdom that turned the world upside down,  “A lot of Christians have the idea that the kingdom of God is something only in the future. But no, the kingdom of God is something that is here right now. Paul wrote to the Colossians, ” He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of God(Col 1:3) Paul speaks in the past tense. God already conveyed us into His kingdom. He doesn’t bring us into His kingdom after we die. He brings us into His kingdom after we are born again.”

You see brothers and sisters, after the kingdoms of the world have risen against the kingdoms of the world, and the nations of the world have finished rising against themselves, all of them at some point turn their eyes upon the ones who belong to an entirely different kingdom, the kingdom of God. It has already begun. The seeds are well planted. The fruit of the enemies work shall soon sprout into view. It is only then that we shall truly see who belongs to who. It is only then that the world will see the Kingdom of God coming into their view and their banner is that name which is above every name and the light which illuminates their path shall be the truth found in the eternal word of God.

I was born and raised in Scotland and moved to the States when I was 26. I later became an American citizen. I love my homeland, the land of my birth. I love America, and have done since the day I came here 25 years ago. Now I want you to imagine an unlikely scenario, a hypothetical situation. Scotland declares war on America. What am I to do? Shall I fight against the land of my birth or for the land that I adopted or better still the land that adopted me? It’s really not that outlandish a hypothetical, for many German born American citizens faced a similar dilemma in 1939 at the outbreak of the second world war. The question would have to be ” where do my loyalties lie.” And life or death could be the outcome of my decision.

Now, as the whole world turns its attention on the saints, where will your loyalties lie? In order to truly answer that question, one must know in the depths of their heart which Kingdom they belong to. In times of war there is no such thing as dual nationality. And in fact, in the spiritual realm there is never dual nationality. You either belong to the Kingdom of the world which encompasses all Kingdoms and nations, people groups and religions and tribes, or you belong to the Kingdom of God. Your loyalty will be tested on this. It could well be the meaning of life or death for you. But you must know and understand which Kingdom it is that you belong to. For remember, it is Jesus Himself that says that we shall be hated by all the nations of the world, and that betrayal would be the order of the day.

Birth denotes nationality. Jesus says that unless a man is born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. We enter the kingdom of God when we are spiritually born. We are citizens of another kingdom, a kingdom that exists now and lies within us. No matter where the genuine saint comes from, no matter where he was physically born, the man or woman who was born again by the Spirit was birthed into a Kingdom that is united under the banner of Christ. He is the King of our Kingdom. He rules supreme and He shares that glory with no earthly ruler. His is the Kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness is everything that has not been spiritually reborn. The day is at hand where everything that has not been spiritually reborn will come against everything that has. The once born man shall hate the twice born man.

Jesus also told us that these days will be like the days of Noah. Suddenly after hundreds of years of warning, the rain begins to fall. Right up until that day, even although the world was wicked , they went about their business. They had no idea what lay ahead, that God had seen the wickedness of man and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And then came the judgement. Now there is such a wicked time ahead of us brothers and sisters. We have been called upon by Jesus Himself to endure . Know and understand that in order for the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to be revealed to all the world, then the Kingdom that has remained hidden from the world in full view , with mere glimpses,must be revealed fully in the times in which Jesus spoke. They must be revealed and the great tribulation shall reveal the Kingdom of God to a hateful and unbelieving world as a witness, a witness against their own loyalties. The world and the kingdoms and the nations cannot be straddled, we either belong to Gods Kingdom and suffer because of it and for it, or we find ourselves belonging to the world. It cannot be both.

Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

There is no doubt that the enemy of our souls will garner every nation and every tribe against the Kingdom of God and His saints. And it will surely seem to us that we have been overcome in the midst of our tribulations much like Jesus cried out from the cross ” My God , My God why has thou forsake me.” Yes it was the darkest time in human history. Jesus hung on the cross and it seemed like the enemy had prevailed but we know that this was the victory over evil. As evil poured out its fury against the Son of God, as they mocked and ridiculed Him, tortured Him and hung Him on a tree, it must have seemed to the principalities and powers that they had overcome Him. Yet right there, in the midst of gross darkness, Jesus conquered the enemy. His love for God His Father, love itself triumphed over darkness. The chains of hell were broken and the accuser of the brethren’s mouth was shut. This too will be the path for the saints. It will seem like we have been overcome, and yet, in the very depths of the darkness that is fast approaching us, Christ Himself will pierce that darkness and destroy once and for all, the power of the enemy.

Stand fast saints. We have sung for 2000 years the glories of Calvary. We celebrate the fallen in Christ, the martyred saints. Their number is incomplete. The full glory of Christ revealed to the world is yet to come. It shall not come until the Gospel of the Kingdom is revealed, and praise God you may be part of that generation in which the glories of the Gospel of the Kingdom is revealed to the whole world. And then, He shall come in all His glory and every eye shall see and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.