Being prepared for the end times.
Posted by appolus on October 7, 2023
The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon those who suffer for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. That suffering may take many forms. Fiery trials, tribulations and infirmities. Yet one thing is for sure, it is not common in Christendom. It is certainly unknown to the world. I have personally met a number of saints whom I would say the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon them. And it is those who suffer and are yet joyful. It is those who are in the throes of infirmities and yet they are the ones who minister to you. It is quite a glorious thing to behold. And as always, the glory of God, His manifest presence changes people. I would argue all genuine saints have encountered God in a manifest way. It may only have been a moment, or moments. It might just have been a glimpse, or glimpses. Yet note what 1 Peter 4:14 says, it says it rest upon those who suffer for His name sake. That word “rest,” means to remain. It settles down upon their hearts and spirits and they walk in the glory of God. They are truly the anointed ones in that sense. Quite rare I imagine.
Now consider the days into which we are headed. A day when the world turns against us wholesale. A day where God’s remnant saints are persecuted and suffer for His sake on a worldwide scale. A day when we boast in our infirmities. Where we boast in the things that we have lost for His sake and count it all as rubbish because we are “found in Him.” Imagine the light from millions saints shining in the gross darkness of a world nearing its end. Imagine the power that will rest upon us that emanates from the glory that simply remains upon us. Think about the power of love that flowed from Stephen even as he was being stoned. We know he was a man “full of the Holy Spirit,” but we do not really know what “full of the Holy Spirit,” meant in the context of the very early church where power abounded. We do know that Stephen was emulating and manifesting the power of Christ from the cross who could cry out “Father forgive them.”
Religion will be horrified at the light that comes from the true and genuine saint for it will highlight the darkness that they actually dwell in. This can only complete the separation of that which is genuine and that which is not. Darkness consumes its own, it swallows it whole. Light also consumes light and we who walk in the light as He is in the light will have fellowship one with another. There shall be no greater fellowship that that of the saints of the last days. Through the fires of affliction and persecution and a refusal to bow the knee to the gods of this world the Spirit of glory will rest upon us. Christ with us in the flames. He will never be sensed as close as He will be in the times when we suffer for His name sake. His grace is all sufficient for these times and His strength is made perfect in our weakness. And Paul uses the exact same phrase to talk about the exact same thing as Peter does in 1 Pet 1:14. Paul says “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Brothers and sisters, we have nothing to fear from the trying times to come. Those who have never actually experienced the manifest presence of God cannot possibly understand what Peter or Paul is talking about. The notion of suffering, period, is actively prayed against by much of Christendom. Weakness, as the Scriptures count weakness, is despised in many so called Christian circles. And yet the Lord says His strength is made perfect in out weakness. I would put it to you brothers and sisters, if His glory is out highest ambition, then His glory shall rest upon us in the days of our sufferings. If it is our daily habit to take up our cross, then when the day comes to suffer greatly for His sake, then we shall be well prepared. Oil in your vessel comes little by little, piece by piece, step by step. This is how we prepare for the times which are soon to come upon us.
Religion knows nothing of this. The little oil in their lamps will soon burn out when the gross extended darkness comes. Can you not sense that darkness even now lapping around us like a mighty incoming tide that cannot be stopped? Those who walk in the light, those who suffer for His sake gladly, those who take up their crosses daily, those who boast in their infirmities, those whose chief end is to glorify God, it is those who will stand in that evil day. This is how we prepare. It will not be a last minute thing but rather it will flow from the natures and character that has been formed as we walked down the narrow path. In that day when the Lord appears and the virgins are called to trim their lamps, only those who have filled their vessels in their daily walk with Jesus, season after season. In season and out of season. In good times and in bad. It plenty and in want. In sickness and in health. In having much or suffering much loss. Only these will go into the marriage feast of the Lamb.
One last thing brothers and sisters. Let us suppose that we are not that generation that sees Christ return. Let us suppose He tarries yet. The same principles above apply to our individual lives. If we are not a people who die to ourselves daily, if we are not in the habit of taking up our crosses or giving glory to God and counting it all honor to suffer for His sake, then our end days will not be good. The flesh needs to know who is boss or the flesh will not treat you well in your old age. If we live into our older years then we should be beautiful representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ here on earth. If not, then all the worse elements of the flesh will come forward and get even worse. Bitterness and ungratefulness, unhappiness. I have seen both examples. One, a life well lived in the Lord continues in the beauty of holiness, the other a life lived as unto themselves and degenerates. Let us consider our ways and how we would like to end the race. Let us, with all of our hearts, desire to finish the race strong that we might hear the most beautiful of words “well done good and faithful servant.”
A Call To The Remnant 
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