How to protect ourselves from deception.

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am not the best editor.

With this system winding down and corruption and deception is rampant. The lines between what is right and what is wrong are getting skewed. This can open the door for us to be deceived and can cause a lot of misery and possible harm to ourselves or loved ones. So we have to pay special attention to the history of those we put our trust in. If they have a history of corruption, deception or outright lying we need to be careful trusting them. We also need to consider others ways we can protect ourselves from deception. The worst deception and the one we are most vulnerable to is self deception. The pharmaceutical and biotech industry has a history of criminal activity, deception and harm. Many governments have been caught colluding with them to hide the harm they have done. That is evidence that when the bible tells us is true the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. It is also proof of how easily man can be deceived or corrupted.

The bible tells us many times not to leave ourselves be deceived. It will happen but as we are deceived and we apply the scriptures we can learn how to better protect ourselves from being deceived. The bible makes it clear to look at a persons fruits. The more fruits of the spirit the person produces the better the chances are we will not be deceived. The bible makes it clear we should not trust the world and even the governments because it warns the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. There is going to be a time where many governments will turn on true worship world wide. They will try to deceive people into turning their backs on God. The better we get at identifying deception the harder it will be for us to be deceived. By reading God’s word and praying to him on matters it can help to train our minds so we will not be easily deceived by Satan and the world. We have to remember Satan knows God’s word also. The bible warned he and his messengers can appear as angels of light.

The bible showed us clues so we will know when something originates with the world and not God. One thing that is a clue, is most of the talk of a person would be of the world and not of God’s word or of God. For example if a person constantly avoids speaking of the bible it may indicate they have a matter of conscience and hearing God’s word could be hurting it. In such an instance we would need to be careful trusting such a person. Looking for the fruits of the spirit is very important. Does the person continue to grow and show more and more of the fruits of the spirit? For example do they pursue peace, do they leave love guide them, are they patient and kind, do they have self control in various areas of their life, do they have strong faith in God and trust his word to guide them. Some may show many spirits of the fruits but if there is an area they need to grow and they are not progressing we may want to be cautious.

Does the person show signs of works of the flesh for example fits of anger, hostile towards others, cause conflicts with others, do they frequently get jealous in a bad way, do they envy others, do they get drunk often, do they associate with people who do these things? Do they lack self control in areas of their life. Do they put spiritual things first? The bible makes it clear putting worldly things over spiritual things is a form of idolism. For example if a person puts the pursuit of money or material things first we may want to be careful. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy but when the pursuit of it takes from us being able to worship God with our whole heart then we are doing an act of worship to the money or material things because that is where our devotion is.

Something else we want to watch for. When a person does experience trials and tribulation do they come out of it more spiritually mature and wiser or has it drawn them away from God. If it has drawn them away from God we may want to be careful putting our trust in them. We should try and build them up, we should try to be there when they are experiencing trials and tribulation but if they are not growing from it and taking in the spiritual food offered we may want to be careful in trusting them.

Another way we can be deceived is if a person is very good at false reasoning , or has a lot of worldly knowledge. If they are using fancy words and not quoting the bible , or they keep complementing a person and doing what appears to be acts of kindness but do not talk about Gods word and show their faith in it but looks for solutions from the world we should be cautious. There are certain responsibilities we have and certain professionals that we do have to rely on for assistance sometimes but if the advice they give goes against what God would expect or require of us we should be cautious.

We even have to be careful of our spiritual relatives. I had a spiritual relative that would continually ask me the same question about something that pertained to my life. If I did not repeat the answer back in the same exact words I had first told them , they would try to use this as evidence that I was being deceptive. No one remembers everything perfectly, it is unreasonable to expect them to. Be careful about they questions they are asking, if they have a history like the spiritual relative I mentioned be careful. Those ones cause divisions and strife. We are warned to be careful of such ones. Even when talking about spiritual things. Know your bible well enough to be aware of when you are being ask a loaded question. This way we can give an appropriate answer ans sometimes now answer which Jesus did when he realized the motive of the question was to entrap him or had deceptive motives behind it. Be careful of those who ask questions like that. They are forms of deception and indicates we may not be able to trust them. Jesus knew he was being tried and convicted of something he was not guilty of. So when he was accused he would not reply. This does not mean we should not defend ourselves but when it is obvious the person has already come to a conclusion and are asking the question to try to get you to incriminate yourself it is best to remain silent when possible.

Sometime things may occur maybe those taking the lead among us may be in error or we may be aware they have imperfections. Some who have their own interest at heart can use this to draw some away from the truth. This happened Moses and Aaron, they were chosen by God to lead Israel. They made mistakes. God corrected them and they accepted the discipline and did not make the errors again. Korah was a high priest. He most likely was very aware of the errors that Aaron and Moses had made. He decided that he was more qualified then Aaron and Moses to lead Israel. He tricked many into following him in the rebellion. Moses and Aaron were chosen by God so were directly accountable to God. It was not Korah’s place to question the choice God made and it was not his position to remove them. In doing so he was trying to undermine God. This resulted in Korah and others losing their lives. So we need to know our bibles well enough to know when something like this is occurring so we cannot be deceived. God has chosen imperfect humans, we know they made errors in the past and corrected them just as Moses and Aaron did. We should not loose faith in Jehovah he always sets matters straight. Over the years true worship has become purer and purer. As this system winds down things may occur exposing things that need corrected. We can be sure Jehovah will set matters straight as he did with Moses and Aaron when they were in error. There are many Korah like ones out there. Many have websites they have set up. They look for those who are disappointed in something our spiritual leaders and guides may have done. They may even exaggerate something that has occurred. If we give them an ear it leaves Satan get his foot in the door and can lure us away from true worship and just as Korah and the 250 did, we could start opposing God. These ones use comforting or flattering words and then slowly try to draw people away from true worship.

Often times people with hidden motives will come with soothing words and complements because they know the person is vulnerable. They may tell us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear. We need to be aware when we are vulnerable and when we are accepting words we want to hear instead of what we need to hear. If we get upset or uncomfortable with a scripture we should self reflect on what this tells us about ourselves it could indicate something we may need to work on or overcome. Though it may mean we need to do deeper research to understand the meaning. When you care about someone it is not easy sharing scriptures with them you know they need to hear. Sometimes for a brief time they may get upset with you. But if we see someone stumbling and did not try to help them where would that leave us in our standing with Jehovah?

Another way we can be deceived is believing a bad association will not draw us into sin. The bible warns us about having bad associations. If we are tolerating behavior that in in opposition to God or that is not bringing glory to God we are not only telling the person their behavior is okay we are telling God and Jesus we approve of that type of behavior. In doing so even though we are not participating we share in their guilt. This does not mean we should completely avoid them. When we have the opportunity we should plant the seed of God’s word and watch to see if it grows. If we see them apply what they have learned in their life and make changes , it is God that makes the seed we planted grow so we need to continue when possible to share God’s word with them. When we may be teaching another or we are helping someone who is a spiritual relative we need to be careful that we do not get drawn into sinning. The more we take in God’s word the more aware we become of our short comings and weaknesses the better we can protect ourselves. God wrote his word because we all sin and fall short. If we were perfect God would not have had to give us his word so we could look into the perfect mirror of his word and learn to overcome our short comings. If we ignore the bibles warnings about bad association we are being wise in our own eyes and the bible has warned that can lead us into trouble. If we get overconfident we are thinking we are something we are not, because we are ignoring God’s warnings and believing that we are above being drawn into sin. The bible warns us being overconfident can cause us to fall. Surely we would not want this to happen.

We are told the word of God is sharper then any two edge sword able to discern the deeper things of the heart. If a person tends to not want to hear Gods word or they tend to avoid certain scriptures they could be telling us something about them. If they react badly to a scripture we should not suddenly jump to the conclusion they are hiding something. They may need the scriptures clarified, or need a deeper understanding. Many of us had believed things in error before we learned accurate bible truths. Sometimes those things can be deeply entrenched and may take a while for them to overcome. In situations such as that it is the spiritual growth you watch. If you see them spiritually growing you know they have a deep love for God and his word and we just need to give them time. We should be cautious and pay attention to how they react to God’s word. For example if they frequently avoid scriptures involving immoral sex , it could be a sign we may want to be careful they may have issues in that area. They could avoid them because they still fill guilt for letting God down. But asking questions carefully and not directly or bluntly asking things may help you to determine if you should help them to forgive themselves or if they may be hiding something, or if the scripture causes them confusion because they cannot fully understand it.

Shock and awe is another way we can be deceived by Satan or his people. Satan tried to use this tactic unsuccessfully against Job. Often times a person may do some things to cause you to get overwhelmed. Or circumstances may happen to cause you to become overwhelmed. Often times when this occurs people or even Satan will try to put us in a position where we feel we have to make a quick decision. If this decision can effect the rest of our lives or negatively impact someone else and there is any uncertainty then we should not let anyone pressure us into a decision. It is a moment of vulnerability and when we are pressured, in a state of panic, frustration or anxious we will not use the reasoning parts of our brains. If what God would want us to do is not clear then we should delay the decision. If we are put in a position where we cannot delay that decision do no lean on our own understanding but trust God and do what he would want you to do. Often times I will think what would Jesus do or what would Jesus want me to do. We should not follow our hearts when it comes to making major decisions because the bible warns us the heart is very deceptive. This is where wrighting God’s word into our hearts will protect us. By reading his word daily and applying it and making it a part of our lives it will train our hearts so we will do what God ask when we do have to make decisions and we will not lean on our own understanding.

False reasoning is another way we can be deceived. If we listen to it or we false reason with ourselves we could fall into a trap and be led down the wrong path. Often times that can cause harm to ourselves or others or cause things to happen in our lives that can take years to recover from. The first instance of false reasoning was when even listened to Satan. It was clear she had been taught what was required of her because she had quoted what she had been taught. She should have stopped listening to Satan but she continued the conversation and it lead to her believing that humans did not need God to guide them and that man could guide themselves. We are seeing the end result of that rebellion now as this system comes to a climax. Satan knows Gods word and he can subtly draw us away if we continue to listen to false reasoning. There is also instances in the bible were someone false reasoned and thought that God would back them. For example there were rules of war for Israel. They were only to take back land God had promised to them. There were certain peoples they were not to fight wars with. Israel false reasoned because they were God’s people that he would protect them if they fought the war , even though it was a war God had told them not to fight. Israel disobeyed God and was punished for their disobedience, God did not protect Israel in their battle. I meant someone once who believed if he made money he would get a certain security, which there is nothing wrong with that. But he false reasoned if he made more money he could help more people. This slowly drew him away from God and he did not help others because so much of his time was spent making money.

We are clearly in the last days. The bible as I mentioned earlier said there would be scoffers. They would false reason that things are the same as they have always been and would take no note that they are happening on a grand scale like they have never occurred before. By they time they realized the time frame we are in the bible says it would be too late. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He had given warnings about what was going to occur but they paid no note and the flood swept them away. There was no way for anyone else to enter the ark because it was God himself who closed the door. This is why Jesus frequently warned stay alert. If we associate with people who frequently scoff about the time frame we are in and ignore the warnings , it could slowly erode away at our faith.

We are told to enter the heavenly kingdom through the narrow gate. Jesus is the gate. He gave his life as a ransom for our sins. While on earth he so perfectly emulated his father that he gave us a guide that can help us enter the narrow gate. Just as in Noah’s day many will pay no note and will be destroyed at the end of this system. As a matter of fact the bible says they will be confident that they are going to live in peace and security when the end of this system comes. Jesus said those who go in through the narrow door are his sheep they would be the ones who were not deceived but listened to his voice.

Other forms of deception used is intimidation tactics like trying to make someone feel embarrassed, picking at someones else’s flaws so victim will not see their flaws, being critical of someone or trying to get someone to doubt their reasoning. Often times they will even remove a person’s support system by convincing people the person has bad qualities, or even outright lying so the person exposing the truth will be put in a vulnerable position and have no choice but to be silent. They tried these things many times with Jesus. When things got too bad he knew it was time to take his leave. If he did not leave often times it would escalate to the point they would want to harm him. Sometimes this intimidation the constant sarcasm and talking down to someone and constantly putting them in a position that people doubt what they say can cause the person to start doubting themselves. If you are around someone like this be careful. They may even try to make your good qualities seem bad. For example if you are empathetic they may try and use it as proof you are weak , even too clingy. Jesus showed empathy, was Saddened when others were sad, Jesus cried when others cried. When confronted by ones who do things like this try to meditate on how Jesus and the apostles reacted. We have the examples of Stephen and Jesus in the bible. So when we see this form of deception we need to be very very careful. So they will go to any lengths to hide the truth and protect their deception.

By focusing on writing God’s word on our hearts and letting it and love guide all we do we will protect ourselves from being deceived and we will store up treasures in heaven. This will also protect our reasoning abilities as things wind down and get much worse. It will help us to realize this is all temporary and will be gone soon but the treasures in heaven and the rewards that come with it, such as our health being restored, being restored to a perfect spiritual state, there will be no more suffering only happy memories. So we must protect ourselves from deception the best we can so we can maintain our hope in the future promises. This will keep us from getting faint at heart and prevent us from losing our faith in God. The bible tells us where our treasure is there is where our heart will be. So if we focus on building spiritual treasures it will protect our hearts and make it much more difficult for us to be deceived. With the end of this system being so near anxiety can overwhelm us and make it so we can be easily deceived. Many things will occur that we have no control or power over. Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow it will make us more anxious. So we should focus on the things we can do something about and the things we do have some control over. Jesus said do not leave our hearts be troubled. If we over think on things it can cause us anxiety and fear. Trust God and Jesus they will not forget all you have done.

If they say we are showing a bad quality reflect on the bible. Reflect on the things that pleased God and whether he would approve of your behavior or personality traits. Would God think your behavior was bad? If a person is tearing others down and making fun of them be very very careful those ones only have their own interest at heart and are covering their own short comings.

(1 John 4:4-6) ⁴ You originate with God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in union with you is greater than the one who is in union with the world. ⁵ They originate with the world; that is why they speak what originates with the world and the world listens to them. ⁶ We originate with God. Whoever comes to know God listens to us; whoever does not originate with God does not listen to us. By this we distinguish the inspired statement of truth from the inspired statement of error.

(2 Corinthians 11:12-15) . . .. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.

(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12) ⁹ But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders ¹⁰ and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. ¹¹ That is why God lets a deluding influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, ¹² in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.

(Galatians 5:22-24) ²² On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³ mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed to the stake the flesh together with its passions and desires.

(Galatians 5:19-21) ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are plainly seen, and they are sexual immorality, uncleanness, brazen conduct, ²⁰ idolatry, spiritism, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions, sects, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and things like these. I am forewarning you about these things, the same way I already warned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom. . .

(Matthew 6:24) ²⁴ “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches.

(Matthew 13:18-22) ¹⁸ “Now listen to the illustration of the man who sowed. ¹⁹ Where anyone hears the word of the Kingdom but does not get the sense of it, the wicked one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; this is the one sown alongside the road. ²⁰ As for the one sown on rocky ground, this is the one hearing the word and at once accepting it with joy. ²¹ Yet, he has no root in himself but continues for a time, and after tribulation or persecution has arisen on account of the word, he is at once stumbled. ²² As for the one sown among the thorns, this is the one hearing the word, but the anxiety of this system of things and the deceptive power of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

(Colossians 2:8-10) ⁸ Look out that no one takes you captive by means of the philosophy and empty deception according to human tradition, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ; ⁹ because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily. ¹⁰ So you have acquired a fullness by means of him, the one who is the head of all government and authority.

(Matthew 22:15-22) ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and conspired together in order to trap him in his speech. ¹⁶ So they sent their disciples to him, together with party followers of Herod, saying: “Teacher, we know you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and you do not seek anyone’s favor, for you do not look at the outward appearance of people. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay head tax to Caesar or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: “Why do you put me to the test, hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the tax coin.” They brought him a de·narʹi·us. ²⁰ He said to them: “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said: “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them: “Pay back, therefore, Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.” ²² When they heard that, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

(Matthew 27:13, 14) . . .” ¹⁴ But he did not answer him, no, not a word, so that the governor was very surprised.

(Numbers 16:1-22) 16 Then Korʹah the son of Izʹhar, the son of Koʹhath, the son of Leʹvi, got up together with Daʹthan and A·biʹram the sons of E·liʹab, and On the son of Peʹleth, of the sons of Reuʹben. ² They rose up against Moses along with 250 Israelite men, chieftains of the assembly, chosen ones of the congregation, prominent men. ³ So they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them: “We have had enough of you! The whole assembly is holy, all of them, and Jehovah is in their midst. Why, then, should you exalt yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?” ⁴ When Moses heard this, he at once fell facedown. ⁵ Then he said to Korʹah and to all his supporters: “In the morning Jehovah will make known who belongs to him and who is holy and who should approach him, and whomever he may choose will approach him. ⁶ Do this: Take fire holders, Korʹah and all your supporters, ⁷ and put fire in them and place incense on them before Jehovah tomorrow, and the man whom Jehovah will choose, he is the holy one. You sons of Leʹvi have gone far enough!” ⁸ Moses then said to Korʹah: “Listen, please, you sons of Leʹvi. ⁹ Does it seem to you such a little thing that the God of Israel has separated you from the assembly of Israel and allowed you to approach him in order to perform the service of Jehovah’s tabernacle and to stand before the assembly to minister to them, ¹⁰ and that he brought you near to him along with all your brothers, the sons of Leʹvi? Must you also try to secure the priesthood? ¹¹ For this reason, you and all your supporters who are gathering together are against Jehovah. As for Aaron, who is he that you should murmur against him?” ¹² Moses later sent for Daʹthan and A·biʹram the sons of E·liʹab, but they said: “We are not going to come! ¹³ Is it so little a thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to put us to death in the wilderness? Now do you also want to make yourself an absolute ruler over us? ¹⁴ As it is, you have not brought us into any land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of field and vineyard. Would you bore out the eyes of those men? We are not going to come!” ¹⁵ So Moses became very angry and said to Jehovah: “Do not turn to look at their grain offering. Not one donkey have I taken away from them, nor have I harmed one of them.” ¹⁶ Then Moses said to Korʹah: “Present yourself with all your supporters before Jehovah tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each one should take his fire holder and put incense on it, and each will present his fire holder before Jehovah, 250 fire holders, together with you and Aaron, each with his fire holder.” ¹⁸ So each of them took his fire holder, and they put fire and incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting together with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ When Korʹah had gathered his supporters against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, Jehovah’s glory appeared to all the assembly. ²⁰ Jehovah now told Moses and Aaron: ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this group, so that I may exterminate them in an instant.” ²² At this, they fell with their faces to the ground and said: “O God, the God of the spirit of all people, will one man’s sin cause you to become indignant against the entire assembly?”

(Numbers 16:31-35) ³¹ As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split apart. ³² And the earth opened and swallowed them up, along with their households and everyone who belonged to Korʹah and all their goods. ³³ So they and all who belonged to them went down alive into the Grave, and the earth covered them over, so that they perished from the midst of the congregation. ³⁴ All the Israelites who were around them fled at their screaming, for they said: “We are afraid that the earth may swallow us up!” ³⁵ Then a fire came out from Jehovah and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

(Romans 16:17, 18) . . .. ¹⁸ For men of that sort are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattering speech they seduce the hearts of unsuspecting ones. . .

(2 Timothy 4:2-5) . . .. ³ For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome teaching, but according to their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled. ⁴ They will turn away from listening to the truth and give attention to false stories. ⁵ You, though, keep your senses in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.

(Ephesians 5:6-11) ⁶ Let no man deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore, do not be sharers with them; ⁸ for you were once darkness, but you are now light in connection with the Lord. Go on walking as children of light, ⁹ for the fruitage of the light consists of every sort of goodness and righteousness and truth. ¹⁰ Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; ¹¹ and stop sharing in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness; rather, expose them for what they are.

(1 Corinthians 15:33, 34) ³³ Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits. ³⁴ Come to your senses in a righteous way and do not practice sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I am speaking to move you to shame.

(1 Corinthians 6:9-11) ⁹ Or do you not know that unrighteous people will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Do not be misled. Those who are sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who submit to homosexual acts, men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ thieves, greedy people, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners will not inherit God’s Kingdom. ¹¹ And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean; you have been sanctified; you have been declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.

(1 Corinthians 3:5-7) ⁵ What, then, is A·polʹlos? Yes, what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord granted each one. ⁶ I planted, A·polʹlos watered, but God kept making it grow, ⁷ so that neither is the one who plants anything nor is the one who waters, but God who makes it grow.

(Galatians 6:1) 6 Brothers, even if a man takes a false step before he is aware of it, you who have spiritual qualifications try to readjust such a man in a spirit of mildness. But keep an eye on yourself, for fear you too may be tempted.

(1 John 1:10) ¹⁰ If we make the statement, “We have not sinned,” we are making him a liar, and his word is not in us.

(Romans 12:15, 16) . . .. ¹⁶ Have the same attitude toward others as toward yourselves; do not set your mind on lofty things, but be led along with the lowly things. Do not become wise in your own eyes.

(Galatians 6:2-5) . . .. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. ⁴ But let each one examine his own actions, and then he will have cause for rejoicing in regard to himself alone, and not in comparison with the other person. ⁵ For each one will carry his own load.

(1 Corinthians 10:12, 13) ¹² So let the one who thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall. ¹³ No temptation has come upon you except what is common to men. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but along with the temptation he will also make the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

(Hebrews 4:12, 13) ¹² For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints from the marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And there is not a creation that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we must give an account.

(Proverbs 3:5-7)  ⁵ Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding.  ⁶ In all your ways take notice of him, And he will make your paths straight.  ⁷ Do not become wise in your own eyes. Fear Jehovah and turn away from bad.

(Proverbs 28:26) Whoever trusts in his own heart is stupid, But the one who walks in wisdom will escape.

(Jeremiah 10:23) I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.

(Jeremiah 17:9, 10)  ⁹ The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it? ¹⁰ I, Jehovah, am searching the heart, Examining the innermost thoughts, To give to each one according to his ways, According to the fruitage of his works.

(Genesis 3:1-15) 3 Now the serpent was the most cautious of all the wild animals of the field that Jehovah God had made. So it said to the woman: “Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree of the garden?” ² At this the woman said to the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. ³ But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’” ⁴ At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. ⁵ For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.” ⁶ Consequently, the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something desirable to the eyes, yes, the tree was pleasing to look at. So she began taking of its fruit and eating it. Afterward, she also gave some to her husband when he was with her, and he began eating it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings for themselves. ⁸ Later they heard the voice of Jehovah God as he was walking in the garden about the breezy part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the face of Jehovah God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ And Jehovah God kept calling to the man and saying to him: “Where are you?” ¹⁰ Finally he said: “I heard your voice in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.” ¹¹ At that he said: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate.” ¹³ Jehovah God then said to the woman: “What is this you have done?” The woman replied: “The serpent deceived me, so I ate.” ¹⁴ Then Jehovah God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are the cursed one out of all the domestic animals and out of all the wild animals of the field. On your belly you will go, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head, and you will strike him in the heel.”

(Revelation 12:8, 9) . . .. ⁹ So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. . .

(James 1:22-24) ²² However, become doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself, and he goes away and immediately forgets what sort of person he is.

(Genesis 7:16) ¹⁶ So they went in, male and female of every sort of flesh, just as God had commanded him. After that Jehovah shut the door behind him.

(Matthew 24:36-44) ³⁶ “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ³⁸ For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, ³⁹ and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the hand mill; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴² Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

(1 Thessalonians 5:1-3) 5 Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. ² For you yourselves know very well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. ³ Whenever it is that they are saying, “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them, just like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape.

(Luke 21:34-36) ³⁴ “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you ³⁵ as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

(Matthew 7:13, 14) ¹³ “Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; ¹⁴ whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.

(John 10:7-9) ⁷ So Jesus said again: “Most truly I say to you, I am the door for the sheep. ⁸ All those who have come in place of me are thieves and plunderers; but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved, and that one will go in and out and find pasturage.

(Ephesians 2:15-18) ¹⁵ By means of his flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, in order to make the two groups in union with himself into one new man and to make peace, ¹⁶ and to reconcile fully both peoples in one body to God through the torture stake, because he had killed off the enmity by means of himself. ¹⁷ And he came and declared the good news of peace to you who were far off, and peace to those near, ¹⁸ because through him we, both peoples, have free access to the Father by one spirit.

(Matthew 6:19-21) ¹⁹ “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(Matthew 6:33, 34) ³³ “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. ³⁴ So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.

(John 14:27) ²⁷ I leave you peace; I give you my peace. I do not give it to you the way that the world gives it. Do not let your hearts be troubled nor let them shrink out of fear.

(Hebrews 6:9-12) . . .. ¹⁰ For God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love you showed for his name by ministering and continuing to minister to the holy ones. ¹¹ But we desire each one of you to show the same industriousness so as to have the full assurance of the hope down to the end, ¹² so that you may not become sluggish, but be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

How do we know what time frame we are in concerning the end of this system of things?

Written by Lee Stevenson sorry I am not a very good editor.

How do we know we are in the final minutes of this system of things and that man’s rule is coming to an end? Why should we take note of the times we are in?

How do we determine what time frame we are in when it comes to the time of the end of this system of things? Many of the things Jesus mentioned have occurred throughout the history of the earth. If these things have always occurred then what would be different , what could help us determine when the time of the end started?

Some things to take note of is that these things would start to occur simultaneously and on a grand scale. The things would occur at a level they have never occurred before. In 1914 war broke out that effected every nation on the earth. Such a thing had never occurred before. Shortly after that a flu pandemic occurred that killed millions of people. A pandemic of this magnitude had never occurred before. Wars and pandemics have occurred throughout history but they have never effected the whole earth. Disease is so rampant now days that many have come to accept having an illness as being a part of normal life. Cancer is so rampant on the earth that babies are now being born with cancer. Violence is so rampant that many feel it is necessary to carry a weapon to protect themselves. Famine is occurring on a scale it has never occurred before. Even people who live in some of the wealthiest nations in the world have starved from famine. Millions each year die from famine. Hatred would abound and most would not let love guide their actions and would put their confidence in their own understanding causing even more confusion and suffering as man depends more and more on their own understanding. Wars and threats of wars are occurring on a grand scale even now. Man has developed weapons of mass destruction that could destroy all life on earth if the weapons were used. These things have never occurred before. So it has become clear the time of the end of this system started in 1914. We need to ask ourselves why did this occur and what does all this mean?

We were warned the great apostasy would come first. False teaching would become rampant causing many different sects of religion to arise. The bible tells us because of the things those who follow the false teachings would do, it would cause Jehovah’s good name to be spoken of abusively. This behavior would even cause people to scoff at the warnings of the times we are in. This does not mean all hope is lost. So not only will there be corruption on a world wide scale like has never occurred before but even religion would become corrupted.

All these things are occurring because God has sat Jesus on the throne, and one of the first things he did was cast Satan and the demons out of heaven. Because of this they are vengeful because they know their time is short. They want nothing more then for the destruction of the earth and to take down as many with them to the pit of destruction with them. The bible warned whoa to the earth when this occurs. Another sign that Jesus has been seated on the throne is that true worship would be restored and those who worship in truth would spread the good news of the heavenly kingdom in all the earth. The bible also showed those who returned to true worship would have a clear understanding of the prophesies concerning the last days and they would spread this knowledge throughout the earth preparing people for what is about to occur. This kingdom message and the good news of the kingdom has been told throughout the earth and most have had the opportunity to hear it.

This may seem like fearful times but those who returned to true worship do not have to worry these things have to occur as the rebellion that started in the garden of Eden has run it’s course our king appointed by Jehovah God is seated on the throne and these are all signs he is going to set matters straight very soon and that the end of this system is very near. The truth and message of the good news of the heavenly kingdom has reached all the earth which is one of the final signs that will occur. The earth has reached a point were disease and death is rampant. People are living in constant fear there will be a world war and the weapons of mass destruction will be used. People no longer live in security, and hatred is so rampant that peace is becoming difficult to find. It is clear we are in the final minutes of this system and the heavenly kingdom with Jesus as our king is going to restore the earth and all the suffering and evil things occurring on earth will not occur again. Those who prepare and stay on the watch and are taking note of the time frame we are in do not have to fear. God will give Jesus the command to save those who have stayed awake and who remained loyal to save and protect them. Many will walk through the great tribulation into the new system. This is a time to be happy because we now know Jesus is seated on the throne and redemption is near and the end of all the bad is very near. Very soon we will be able to enjoy peace, with no more suffering, violence, illness, greed, or suffering caused by man relying on their own understanding. There will be no more tears only joy. The best part is there will be no more death and those who make it through the great tribulation will get to see the loved ones they lost to death when they are resurrected. We only have to endure a little longer. I know these times may seem overwhelming but keep looking forward better times are very very near. We need to persist in reading God’s word, remaining loyal and faithful and persist in prayer now more then ever. Many of the things in this system especially the world governments will be gone soon and they will be replaced by the heavenly kingdom. Many of the material things of this world will hold no value but it is the treasures we store in heaven that will save us. So we need to focus more on spiritual things now then ever before. Let’s do our best to keep our eyes focused on the heavenly kingdoms and the hope it has given us so we do not lose sight of the things that will not pass away because this system and the things in it will be gone soon and so will the hope of those who put their faith in the world and the things in it.

Many peoples identities are based on what they may own, or the reputation they may have built for things they have done or even the knowledge they have. Build our identities with God, make are reputation in things pertaining to God. Our spiritual treasures are forever and cannot be done away with they are stored in heaven. If our treasures and hope are on spiritual things based on the hope given us by the future promises, no matter what we may lose we still keep our identities and are certain of who we are. For those who base their identity and hope on things that are passing away what do they have to identify with? What hope do they have if they put their faith in the world and the things in it?

(Mark 13:18-20) ¹⁸ Keep praying that it may not occur in wintertime; ¹⁹ for those days will be days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation that God created until that time, and will not occur again. ²⁰ In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen, he has cut short the days.

(Revelation 11:18) ¹⁸ But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time came for the dead to be judged and to reward your slaves the prophets and the holy ones and those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”

(Revelation 12:7-12) ⁷ And war broke out in heaven: Miʹcha·el and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled ⁸ but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. ⁹ So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. ¹⁰ I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! ¹¹ And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. ¹² On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.”

(Genesis 6:11, 12) ¹¹ But the earth had become ruined in the sight of the true God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² Yes, God looked upon the earth, and it was ruined; all flesh had ruined its way on the earth.

(Romans 15:3-6) . . .” ⁴ For all the things that were written beforehand were written for our instruction, so that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ Now may the God who supplies endurance and comfort grant you to have among yourselves the same mental attitude that Christ Jesus had, ⁶ so that unitedly you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Peter 1:20, 21) ²⁰ For you know this first, that no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. ²¹ For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were moved by holy spirit.

(2 Peter 3:14-16) ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved ones, since you are awaiting these things, do your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace. ¹⁵ Furthermore, consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶ speaking about these things as he does in all his letters. However, some things in them are hard to understand, and these things the ignorant and unstable are twisting, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

(Proverbs 14:6)  ⁶ The scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, But knowledge comes easily to the person with understanding.

(Proverbs 9:7, 8)  ⁷ The one who corrects a ridiculer invites dishonor, And whoever reproves someone wicked will get hurt.  ⁸ Do not reprove a ridiculer, or he will hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you.

(1 Thessalonians 5:1-5) 5 Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. ² For you yourselves know very well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. ³ Whenever it is that they are saying, “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them, just like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape. ⁴ But you, brothers, you are not in darkness, so that the day should overtake you as it would thieves, ⁵ for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We belong neither to night nor to darkness.

(Matthew 24:43, 44) ⁴³ “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

(Jude 5-7) ⁵ Although you are fully aware of all of this, I want to remind you that Jehovah, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those not showing faith. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place, he has reserved with eternal bonds in dense darkness for the judgment of the great day. ⁷ In the same manner, Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah and the cities around them also gave themselves over to gross sexual immorality and pursued unnatural fleshly desires; they are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.

(Matthew 24:3) ³ While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?”

(Mark 13:8) ⁸ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in one place after another; there will also be food shortages. These are a beginning of pangs of distress.

(Matthew 24:4-22) ⁴ In answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads you, ⁵ for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. ⁸ All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress. ⁹ “Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. ¹⁰ Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; ¹² and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. ¹⁵ “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), ¹⁶ then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house, ¹⁸ and let the man in the field not return to pick up his outer garment. ¹⁹ Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! ²⁰ Keep praying that your flight may not occur in wintertime nor on the Sabbath day; ²¹ for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. ²² In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-5) 2 However, brothers, concerning the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you ² not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be alarmed either by an inspired statement or by a spoken message or by a letter appearing to be from us, to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here. ³ Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. ⁴ He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things?

(2 Timothy 3:1-7) 3 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, ³ having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, ⁴ betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away. ⁶ From among these arise men who slyly work their way into households and captivate weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, ⁷ always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

(1 Timothy 4:1-5) 4 However, the inspired word clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons, ² by means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, whose conscience is seared as with a branding iron. ³ They forbid marriage and command people to abstain from foods that God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth. ⁴ For every creation of God is fine, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is sanctified through God’s word and prayer over it.

(2 Peter 3:5-7) ⁵ For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; ⁶ and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.

(Matthew 24:36-44) ³⁶ “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ³⁸ For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, ³⁹ and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the hand mill; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴² Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

(Luke 17:22-30) ²² Then he said to the disciples: “Days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but you will not see it. ²³ And people will say to you, ‘See there!’ or, ‘See here!’ Do not go out or chase after them. ²⁴ For just as lightning flashes from one part of heaven to another part of heaven, so the Son of man will be in his day. ²⁵ First, however, he must undergo many sufferings and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ Moreover, just as it occurred in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of man: ²⁷ they were eating, they were drinking, men were marrying, women were being given in marriage until that day when Noah entered into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it occurred in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. ²⁹ But on the day that Lot went out of Sodʹom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be the same on that day when the Son of man is revealed.

(2 Peter 2:1-3) 2 However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among you. These will quietly bring in destructive sects, and they will even disown the owner who bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. ² Furthermore, many will follow their brazen conduct, and because of them the way of the truth will be spoken of abusively. ³ Also, they will greedily exploit you with counterfeit words. But their judgment, decided long ago, is not moving slowly, and their destruction is not sleeping.

(Daniel 12:4) ⁴ “As for you, Daniel, keep the words secret, and seal up the book until the time of the end. Many will rove about, and the true knowledge will become abundant.”

(Hosea 3:4, 5) ⁴ It is because for a long time the people of Israel will dwell without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, without a pillar, and without an ephʹod and teraphim statues. ⁵ Afterward the people of Israel will come back and look for Jehovah their God and for David their king, and they will come trembling to Jehovah and to his goodness in the final part of the days.

(1 John 4:11-21) ¹¹ Beloved ones, if this is how God loved us, then we are also under obligation to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we continue loving one another, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. ¹³ By this we know that we are remaining in union with him and he in union with us, because he has given his spirit to us. ¹⁴ In addition, we ourselves have seen and are bearing witness that the Father has sent his Son as savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is God’s Son, God remains in union with such one and he in union with God. ¹⁶ And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in union with God and God remains in union with him. ¹⁷ In this way love has been made perfect in us, so that we may have freeness of speech in the day of judgment, because just as that one is, so are we ourselves in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear restrains us. Indeed, the one who is fearful has not been made perfect in love. ¹⁹ We love, because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹ And we have this commandment from him, that whoever loves God must also love his brother.

(Jude 17, 18) ¹⁷ As for you, beloved ones, call to mind the sayings that have been previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ how they used to say to you: “In the last time there will be ridiculers, following their own desires for ungodly things.. . .

(Micah 4:1-3) 4 In the final part of the days, The mountain of the house of Jehovah Will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, And it will be raised up above the hills, And to it peoples will stream.  ² And many nations will go and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah And to the house of the God of Jacob. He will instruct us about his ways, And we will walk in his paths.” For law will go out of Zion, And the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem.  ³ He will render judgment among many peoples And set matters straight respecting mighty nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, Nor will they learn war anymore.

(Daniel 12:10-12) ¹⁰ Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand; but those having insight will understand. ¹¹ “And from the time that the constant feature has been removed and the disgusting thing that causes desolation has been put in place, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² “Happy is the one who keeps in expectation and who arrives at the 1,335 days!

(2 Thessalonians 2:6-12) ⁶ And now you know what is acting as a restraint, so that he will be revealed in his own due time. ⁷ True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who is right now acting as a restraint is out of the way. ⁸ Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence. ⁹ But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders ¹⁰ and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. ¹¹ That is why God lets a deluding influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, ¹² in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.

(Romans 13:11-14) ¹¹ And do this because you know the season, that it is already the hour for you to awake from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than at the time when we became believers. ¹² The night is well along; the day has drawn near. Let us therefore throw off the works belonging to darkness and let us put on the weapons of the light. ¹³ Let us walk decently as in the daytime, not in wild parties and drunkenness, not in immoral intercourse and brazen conduct, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not be planning ahead for the desires of the flesh.

(Matthew 24:31-35) ³¹ And he will send out his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to their other extremity. ³² “Now learn this illustration from the fig tree: Just as soon as its young branch grows tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ Likewise also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near at the doors. ³⁴ Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things happen. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

(Hebrews 1:1-4) 1 Long ago God spoke to our forefathers by means of the prophets on many occasions and in many ways. ² Now at the end of these days he has spoken to us by means of a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the systems of things. ³ He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact representation of his very being, and he sustains all things by the word of his power. And after he had made a purification for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ⁴ So he has become better than the angels to the extent that he has inherited a name more excellent than theirs.

(Revelation 21:7, 8) . . .. ⁸ But as for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and the sexually immoral and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This means the second death.”

(Revelation 13:14-18) ¹⁴ It misleads those who dwell on the earth, because of the signs that it was permitted to perform in the sight of the wild beast, while it tells those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the wild beast that had the sword-stroke and yet revived. ¹⁵ And it was permitted to give breath to the image of the wild beast, so that the image of the wild beast should both speak and cause to be killed all those who refuse to worship the image of the wild beast. ¹⁶ It puts under compulsion all people—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves—that these should be marked on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷ and that nobody can buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This is where it calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man’s number, and its number is 666.

(2 Peter 3:8-13) ⁸ However, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance. ¹⁰ But Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be exposed. ¹¹ Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, ¹² as you await and keep close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens will be destroyed in flames and the elements will melt in the intense heat! ¹³ But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.

(Isaiah 13:9) Look! The day of Jehovah is coming, Cruel both with fury and with burning anger, To make the land an object of horror, And to annihilate the land’s sinners from it.

(Zephaniah 1:18) Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Jehovah’s fury; For by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be consumed, Because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

(Matthew 12:36, 37) I tell you that men will render an account on Judgment Day for every unprofitable saying that they speak; ³⁷ for by your words you will be declared righteous, and by your words you will be condemned.”

(Acts 17:31) Because he has set a day on which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has provided a guarantee to all men by resurrecting him from the dead.

(Colossians 3:15-17) ¹⁵ Also, let the peace of the Christ rule in your hearts, for you were called to that peace in one body. And show yourselves thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of the Christ reside in you richly in all wisdom. Keep on teaching and encouraging one another with psalms, praises to God, spiritual songs sung with gratitude, singing in your hearts to Jehovah. ¹⁷ Whatever it is that you do in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.

(Psalm 37:29) ²⁹ The righteous will possess the earth, And they will live forever on it.

(Revelation 21:3, 4) ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(Daniel 2:44) ⁴⁴ “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever. . .

(Luke 1:30-33) . . .. ³¹ And look! you will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. ³² This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, ³³ and he will rule as King over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his Kingdom.”

(Revelation 19:11-16) ¹¹ I saw heaven opened, and look! a white horse. And the one seated on it is called Faithful and True, and he judges and carries on war in righteousness. ¹² His eyes are a fiery flame, and on his head are many diadems. He has a name written that no one knows but he himself, ¹³ and he is clothed with an outer garment stained with blood, and he is called by the name The Word of God. ¹⁴ Also, the armies in heaven were following him on white horses, and they were clothed in white, clean, fine linen. ¹⁵ And out of his mouth protrudes a sharp, long sword with which to strike the nations, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron. Moreover, he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶ On his outer garment, yes, on his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

(Revelation 19:19-21) ¹⁹ And I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the one seated on the horse and against his army. ²⁰ And the wild beast was caught, and along with it the false prophet that performed in front of it the signs with which he misled those who received the mark of the wild beast and those who worship its image. While still alive, they both were hurled into the fiery lake that burns with sulfur. ²¹ But the rest were killed off with the long sword that proceeded out of the mouth of the one seated on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

(Revelation 7:13-17) ¹³ In response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” ¹⁴ So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ That is why they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them. ¹⁶ They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down on them nor any scorching heat, ¹⁷ because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and will guide them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”

(Luke 21:25-28) ²⁵ “Also, there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation. ²⁶ People will become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.”

(Matthew 6:19-21) ¹⁹ “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The time to prepare is now, we no longer have time for indecision.

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am a lousy editor.

The bible has warned us of the times we are experiencing. It also warns these are the beginning of the pangs of distress. As in times past when God warned of hard times that were coming , he expected his people to prepare. We should be preparing to be as self sufficient as we can be. A denarius for a quart of wheat would be like working a day for a loaf of bread. Not only will food get expensive but it will also become difficult to acquire.

(Revelation 6:5, 6) ⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: “Come!” And I saw, and look! a black horse, and the one seated on it had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ I heard what sounded like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say: “A quart of wheat for a de·narʹi·us and three quarts of barley for a de·narʹi·us; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”

(Mark 13:8) ⁸ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in one place after another; there will also be food shortages. These are a beginning of pangs of distress.

Money will become useless and even worthless. Precious metals will become so worthless that they will be tossed in the streets. What marks when these things will start is when the world turns on false religion. False religion and merchants profit off the many false practices they get people involved in. They sell a lot of merchandise based on these things. When they turn on false religion those things will be banned and the merchants will lose money. Not only that but greed for power and money will cause things to become very expensive. When the world turns on false religion they will try to force everyone to bow down to the beast and it’s allies and force everyone to turn away from God. If a person refuses to give up true worship and bow to the beast and it’s allies they will not be able to buy sell or trade. So we need to prepare keeping in mind these things are acurring now and they are going to get much much worse.

(Revelation 18:6-14) . . .. ⁷ To the extent that she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury, to that extent give her torment and mourning. For she keeps saying in her heart: ‘I sit as queen, and I am not a widow, and I will never see mourning.’ ⁸ That is why in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be completely burned with fire, because Jehovah God, who judged her, is strong. ⁹ “And the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality with her and lived with her in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her when they see the smoke from her burning. ¹⁰ They will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say: ‘Too bad, too bad, you great city, Babylon you strong city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!’ ¹¹ “Also, the merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning over her, because there is no one to buy their full cargo anymore, ¹² a full cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth; and everything made from scented wood; and every sort of object made from ivory, and from precious wood, copper, iron, and marble; ¹³ also cinnamon, Indian spice, incense, perfumed oil, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives. ¹⁴ Yes, the fine fruit that you desired has left you, and all the delicacies and the splendid things have vanished from you, never to be found again.

(James 5:1-8) 5 Come, now, you rich men, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have rusted away, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh. What you have stored up will be like a fire in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you have withheld from the workers who harvested your fields keep crying out, and the cries for help of the reapers have reached the ears of Jehovah of armies. ⁵ You have lived in luxury and for self-gratification on the earth. You have fattened your hearts on the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one. Is he not opposing you? ⁷ Be patient then, brothers, until the presence of the Lord. Look! The farmer keeps waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, exercising patience over it until the early rain and the late rain arrive. ⁸ You too exercise patience; make your hearts firm, because the presence of the Lord has drawn close.

(Ezekiel 7:19) ¹⁹ “‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become abhorrent to them. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Jehovah’s fury. They will not be satisfied, nor will they fill their stomachs, for it has become a stumbling block causing their error.

(Revelation 13:16-18) ¹⁶ It puts under compulsion all people—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves—that these should be marked on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷ and that nobody can buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This is where it calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man’s number, and its number is 666.

What will be the complete end of the monetary system is when God gives Jesus the command. Mans rule will come to an end and man will be under the authority of the heavenly kingdom. Anyone who had accepted the mark by obeying the beast rather then God and refused to submit to the heavenly kingdom will be destroyed. But those who obeyed the heavenly kingdom no matter how much pressure Satan and man put on them will be redeemed. So the nations that back that money will be gone. Just as in Germany during their defeat in World War Two, their money became worthless. When all nations are defeated by Jesus and his legions of angels the money they backed will become worthless.

(Psalm 110:4-6)  ⁴ Jehovah has sworn an oath, and he will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever In the manner of Mel·chizʹe·dek!”  ⁵ Jehovah will be at your right hand; He will crush kings on the day of his anger.  ⁶ He will execute judgment against the nations; He will fill the land with dead bodies. He will crush the leader of a vast land.

(Jeremiah 25:31-33) ³¹ ‘A noise will resound to the ends of the earth, For Jehovah has a controversy with the nations. He will personally pass judgment on all humans. And he will put the wicked to the sword,’ declares Jehovah. ³² This is what Jehovah of armies says: ‘Look! A calamity is spreading from nation to nation, And a great tempest will be unleashed from the remotest parts of the earth. ³³ “‘And those slain by Jehovah in that day will be from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth. They will not be mourned, nor will they be gathered up or buried. They will become like manure on the surface of the ground.

It will be a short time. We can have faith that God will fulfill the future promises and those who walk through this great tribulation will get to enjoy life forever on a peaceful new earth and were there will be no suffering and those things will never occur again.

(Daniel 2:44, 45) ⁴⁴ “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever, ⁴⁵ just as you saw that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the copper, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The Grand God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

(Revelation 11:15) ¹⁵ The seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.”

(Jeremiah 33:14-16) . . .. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous sprout, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will reside in security. And this is what she will be called: Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.’”

(Acts 2:19-21) . . .. ²⁰ The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and illustrious day of Jehovah comes. ²¹ And everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.”’

(Romans 10:11-15) ¹¹ For the scripture says: “No one who rests his faith on him will be disappointed.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. There is the same Lord over all, who is rich toward all those calling on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” ¹⁴ However, how will they call on him if they have not put faith in him? How, in turn, will they put faith in him about whom they have not heard? How, in turn, will they hear without someone to preach? ¹⁵ How, in turn, will they preach unless they have been sent out? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who declare good news of good things!”

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. ² I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(Isaiah 65:19-22) ¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people; No more will there be heard in her the sound of weeping or a cry of distress.” ²⁰ “No more will there be an infant from that place who lives but a few days, Nor an old man who fails to live out his days. For anyone who dies at a hundred will be considered a mere boy, And the sinner will be cursed, even though he is a hundred years of age. ²¹ They will build houses and live in them, And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. ²² They will not build for someone else to inhabit, Nor will they plant for others to eat. For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full.

Better times are near.

What are the signs that the grand climax of this system of things is near. What are is going to occur? How does this effect us and others? How can we prepare for what is about to occur? We need to consider these questions and many others. We also need to stay strong these times are a sign that better times are very near.

We are going to face some difficult times very soon. We must prepare for what is about to occur. There has been a spiritual battle happening since Satan, Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the garden of Eden. This battle is reaching a climax and the system that come about from that rebellion is near it’s end. Times are going to become very very difficult especially for those who choose God’s side in the battle. We need not fear because those who choose God’s side will be victorious. We were told God would gather his people from all the nations of the earth and establish them. This has already occurred. Many have returned to pure worship. This also is a sign we are in the final minutes and things have reached a climax. We get a clue as to what the disgusting thing is in the book of Daniel which indicates it is the apostate or false religion that has become established throughout the earth and claims to represent God or to be true worship but cause many people to become corrupted. In doing so we see the earth being desolated spiritually and physically. But the beast will turn on the disgusting thing and destroy it. God will put it into the hearts of the beast and it’s allies to destroy the Harlot also known as Babylon the Great. Shortly after this occurs the beast , it’s allies and those who participated in false worship will turn on those who returned to pure worship. We must prepare for the time this occurs.

The beast that is mentioned in the bible is a government type entity and it’s allies they try to replace God’s rightful place to rule over the whole earth. They will form a one world type system and mankind will be given a choice. Put our faith in the beast or put our faith in God. Those who put their faith in the beast and submit to it’s will will be marked with a figurative mark. This mark is not a literal mark but it is symbolic and by submitting to the beast will instead of God’s those ones will be figuratively marked with the number 666. Those who remain loyal to Jehovah God and his son Jesus will be figuratively marked, they would figuratively have the name of Jehovah and the name of Jesus written on their foreheads. In other words their behavior would make them stand out so much that it would be clear who they really are because they would do their best to follow Jesus examples he set for us. The beast and those who have chosen to side with the beast will turn on those who have been marked. Those who choose the side of the beast will forfeit the privilege of eternal life. Those who worship in truth will consist of two groups of people one that will be of a heavenly class and the other group Jesus mentioned who will dwell on the earth. Those who are of the heavenly class will rule with Jesus for the thousands years as the earth is restored to a paradise and the original purpose of the earth has been fulfilled. These ones while on earth will provide the other sheep Jesus mentioned with pure spiritual food and guide them and teach them what God requires and would restore pure worship. Most know the United nations is one of the key parts of that beast system of things.

Many things occurring mark the beginning of the great tribulation. As Jesus stated these are the beginning of the pangs of distress. It will get much much worse when the beast is fully empowered. Those who do not submit to the beast authority but put God’s will firs, will not be able to buy sell or trade. Many will be rounded up and arrested and some who do not submit and do not escape may be killed. Disease and famine will become more rampant. Those who will not submit to the beast will need to count on their resourcefulness and on Jehovah God to get the things they will need to survive. When the beast and it’s allies start exerting it’s power and authority there will be a tribulation like has never occurred before it will be on a world wide scale and to a degree that has never occurred before. In the past there have been times of famine so severe that people would pick grains out of animal feces so they would have something to eat. So imagine things like this happening on a world wide scale. Only those who chose God’s side will escape.

When these things start to occur many of us will have to flee. We will have to flee so quickly that we may not even have time to grab our coats. So we should pack some bags with things needed to survive like water, cloths, and foods that can be stored for long periods of time. Sure many of us will have to start over but if we make it into the new system we will never have things we built or worked for taken from us or destroyed by others again. We will not work hard just to survive. But this suffering is short term and the prize is well worth the suffering we may endure for a short while. Even if some of us have suffered all their lives if they just hold out a little longer they may make it into the new system and these things will never occur again. We not only need to prepare spiritually. This battle is a spiritual battle and not a physical battle. It is not physically we must triumph but spiritually if we want to survive so we need to make sure we put spiritual things first will doing our best to maintain health. We need to write God’s word on our hearts so it can guide us through what is about to occur. The bible warns that many will betray us, family will and even some of our spiritual relatives will betray us. So now more then ever we need to apply the scripture that warns us to be cautious as serpents and kind as doves. We know people have been corrupted and they do not fear God as they should and many appear to have faith but when things get rough they will prove false to it’s power. This is why now more then ever we need to learn the fruits of the spirit and learn how to identify when someone is producing them. Some of the fruits would be the sharing of the good news of the heavenly kingdom and teaching others about God’s word and teaching others about Jesus. Many who are of the world may produce fruit that appear to be of the spirit but if they are not accepting and sharing bible truths then we should be cautious in our relationships with them. This can be very difficult because often times it may be family members or ones we have known all our lives and are very fond of. For those who may get arrested we do not have to rehearse what to say , if we have written God’s word in our hearts , God will call scriptures to our minds to help us to make a stand. He will also call scriptures to mind to protects us as we navigate the tribulation that is about to occur and help guide us through it. The grand climax of this system is very near and who we choose to have close to us can determine whether we survive the great tribulation or not.

As to what each of us need to do to prepare that I can not say. It will be based on an individual basis. Some of us won’t even have time to grab the things we may have packed but we need not worry God will make sure we have what we need. Lot did not have time to grab anything. When it is time to flee we cannot hesitate because remember when happened to Lot’s wife when she looked back she did not make it.

Many may seek to preserve the life they have when it is time to flee. Jesus warned those seeking to preserve their present life with lose their life. Those who do as God instructed and make the necessary changes and prepare for the time of Judgment will preserve their life. It is not any material means that will determine whether we live or die but it will be our faith.

If you read Revelation 9 you will see these things are going to occur because man will not repent and submit to God’s authority but they continue to rebel and continue believing the lies of false religion and continue to believe the original lie in the garden that man does not need God. The wars , the plagues, are occurring because men is refusing to give up on false worship and return to pure worship, man continues to put faith in themselves instead of God and his appointed king Jesus Christ.

When it is time to flee we do not have to fear. We have the example of Israel when they were fleeing from the Egyptians. The path God had them take put them in a position that may have seemed vulnerable. I am sure their enemy thought they had the Israelite’s trapped. The trail they went down had two steep cliffs on each side of them, the Egyptians were pursing them from behind, they had the sea in front of them. If their faith wavered they would have weakened and given up out of fear. Instead they did as God has said they stay the course. He parted the sea for them so they could cross. Once Israel made it across the Egyptians were still pursuing them. God left the sea consume the Egyptians and they died. Israel had arrived at the promised land. We are in a very similar time. Things well get very difficult and could be very frightful if we let our faith waiver. We have to do all God requires to stay the course and keep following the path Jesus laid out for us. Keeping in mind some of us may have to give up many things in order to survive. This battle is not about if we win or lose physically it is about whether we win or lose spiritually. Our battle is a spiritual battle so gaining spiritual wealth is what will preserve us. Many may lose all they have but gaining eternal eternal life and having the promises that gives us future hope is a much better victory because these things will be forever. This system and the things in it are temporary and will be gone soon. We have no reason to look back. If we do we, show a lack of faith and it could cost us our lives.

The line between what is right and wrong has been blurred by false religion. We need to make sure our worship is pure and we are doing what God requires. This is what will make certain we survive and have God’s protection during the great tribulation. There may be people who we care about deeply who are not staying awake and are not aware of the timeline we are in. If this is true then it may indicate they have hidden things in their heart that has blinded them. This may be difficult to accept but we cannot read peoples heart as God and Jesus can. If they have been blinded, when it is time to flee there will be no reasoning with them. We have to except the way things are and remember their relationship is between them and Jehovah and if they have been blinded , we have to flee we may have to leave them behind. Some may have to flee and some may have to hide. We need not worry. If we pray to God in Jesus name for our protection and those we are concerned about and leave it in their hands we can be assured the father and son will do what is best and will protect us.

Some of us may only have to hide, but we still will have the fact we cannot buy sell or trade to deal with so we need to work on being self reliant as much as possible. We also know there will be a great famine. We need to prepare as they did in times past when God warned them of famines or drought or other dangers. Those who had faith and trusted God prepared for the things they had been warned about and survived. If we want to survive the great tribulation we need to start preparing now before it is too late.

We cannot false reason and think I will prepare tomorrow because we do not know the time or hour it will occur. When it does occur the bible warned it would be very sudden. We do not want to be caught off guard and falsely reason that we do not need to heed Jesus warning to stay alert. We need to consider the things he warned us of and use them to gauge the time frame we are in. The scriptures show we are in the final minutes of this system. It is not if the great tribulation will occur but when and all signs are in place to indicate things are going to get very very bad very soon. We need not have to fear because the bible also tells us many will come out of the great tribulation and will survive. These things have to occur the nations of the world have to be judged in order to end all this suffering. Man has had plenty of time to do things without God. We have tried just about every form of government and we have failed. Things are only getting worse and man has destroyed the earth so much spiritually, morally and even physically that we are at a breaking point. Only our king Jesus can straighten the mess man has made out. Many think God is cruel for destroying the wicked or those who lack faith but if he lets those who are wicked survive or leave those who lack faith survive. It would only result in the corruption and evil remaining on the earth. It was Adam and Eve’s lack of faith in God that started all this mess. Those who lack faith put their confidence in themselves or man and it results in turning away from God and ignoring what he requires which is worship that is pure in his eyes, letting him guide all we do and having faith that he only wants us to be safe and happy.

As you can see we will have to learn to be very resourceful. We may need to eat things we may not like or are not used to eating as food. We may have to do types of work we may not like doing. We definitely will have to rely on each other and watch out for and take care of each other while being very careful about exposing who we are. We need to learn to be open minded and not be afraid if we do have to flee or travel to a place we know nothing about if it means surviving. We may have to leave things or people behind. If that is the case we cannot hesitate it could cost us our lives. Some will have to hide the bible said in their inner rooms. This will only be for a short while and then the new system will be here and all the bad including death will be done away with. If we are ill our health will be restored.

(Mark 13:14-20) ¹⁴ “However, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader use discernment), then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let the man on the housetop not come down nor go inside to take anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and let the man in the field not return to the things behind to pick up his outer garment. ¹⁷ Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! ¹⁸ Keep praying that it may not occur in wintertime; ¹⁹ for those days will be days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation that God created until that time, and will not occur again. ²⁰ In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen, he has cut short the days.

(Matthew 24:15-22) ¹⁵ “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), ¹⁶ then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house, ¹⁸ and let the man in the field not return to pick up his outer garment. ¹⁹ Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! ²⁰ Keep praying that your flight may not occur in wintertime nor on the Sabbath day; ²¹ for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. ²² In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.

(Daniel 11:30-35) . . .“He will go back and hurl denunciations against the holy covenant and act effectively; and he will go back and will give attention to those leaving the holy covenant. ³¹ And arms will stand up, proceeding from him; and they will profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and remove the constant feature. “And they will put in place the disgusting thing that causes desolation. ³² “And those who act wickedly against the covenant, he will lead into apostasy by means of smooth words. But the people who know their God will prevail and act effectively. ³³ And those having insight among the people will impart understanding to the many. And they will be made to stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plundering, for some days. ³⁴ But when they are made to stumble, they will be given a little help; and many will join with them by means of smooth speech. ³⁵ And some of those having insight will be made to stumble, in order to do a refining work because of them and to do a cleansing and a whitening until the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.

Isaiah 66:19-24 ¹⁹ “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who escape to the nations—to Tarʹshish, Pul, and Lud, those who draw the bow, to Tuʹbal and Jaʹvan, and to the faraway islands—who have not heard a report about me or seen my glory; and they will proclaim my glory among the nations. ²⁰ They will bring all your brothers out of all the nations as a gift to Jehovah, on horses, in chariots, in covered wagons, on mules, and on swift camels, up to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,” says Jehovah, “just as when the people of Israel bring their gift in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah.”

²¹ “I will also take some for the priests and for the Levites,” says Jehovah.

²² “For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will remain standing before me,” declares Jehovah, “so your offspring and your name will remain.”

²³ “And from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath,

All flesh will come in to bow down before me,” says Jehovah.

²⁴ “And they will go out and look on the carcasses of the men who rebelled against me;

For the worms on them will not die,

And their fire will not be extinguished,

And they will become something repulsive to all people.”

(Revelation 5:7-10) . . .. ⁸ When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, and each one had a harp and golden bowls that were full of incense. (The incense means the prayers of the holy ones.) ⁹ And they sing a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought people for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, ¹⁰ and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”

(Revelation 20:4-6) ⁴ And I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given authority to judge. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed for the witness they gave about Jesus and for speaking about God, and those who had not worshipped the wild beast or its image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for 1,000 years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.

(Revelation 17:15-18) ¹⁵ He said to me: “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw and the wild beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her devastated and naked, and they will eat up her flesh and completely burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought, yes, to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished. ¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”

(Revelation 13:14-18) ¹⁴ It misleads those who dwell on the earth, because of the signs that it was permitted to perform in the sight of the wild beast, while it tells those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the wild beast that had the sword-stroke and yet revived. ¹⁵ And it was permitted to give breath to the image of the wild beast, so that the image of the wild beast should both speak and cause to be killed all those who refuse to worship the image of the wild beast. ¹⁶ It puts under compulsion all people—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves—that these should be marked on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷ and that nobody can buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This is where it calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man’s number, and its number is 666.

(Revelation 13:3-8) . . .. ⁴ And they worshipped the dragon because it gave the authority to the wild beast, and they worshipped the wild beast with the words: “Who is like the wild beast, and who can do battle with it?” ⁵ It was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for 42 months. ⁶ And it opened its mouth in blasphemies against God to blaspheme his name and his dwelling place, even those residing in heaven. ⁷ It was permitted to wage war with the holy ones and conquer them, and it was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. ⁸ And all those who dwell on the earth will worship it. From the founding of the world, not one of their names has been written in the scroll of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

(Revelation 14:1-8) 14 Then I saw, and look! the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. ² I heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; and the sound that I heard was like singers who accompany themselves by playing on their harps. ³ And they are singing what seems to be a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to master that song except the 144,000, who have been bought from the earth. ⁴ These are the ones who did not defile themselves with women; in fact, they are virgins. These are the ones who keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes. These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, ⁵ and no deceit was found in their mouths; they are without blemish. ⁶ And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, and he had everlasting good news to declare to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. ⁷ He was saying in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of judgment by him has arrived, so worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water.” ⁸ Another, a second angel, followed, saying: “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, she who made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality!”

(Luke 12:41-44) ⁴¹ Then Peter said: “Lord, are you telling this illustration just to us or also to everyone?” ⁴² And the Lord said: “Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time? ⁴³ Happy is that slave if his master on coming finds him doing so! ⁴⁴ I tell you truthfully, he will appoint him over all his belongings.

(Matthew 24:7-18) ⁷ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. ⁸ All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress. ⁹ “Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. ¹⁰ Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; ¹² and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. ¹⁵ “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), ¹⁶ then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house, ¹⁸ and let the man in the field not return to pick up his outer garment.

(Matthew 10:16-23) ¹⁶ “Look! I am sending you out as sheep among wolves; so prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Be on your guard against men, for they will hand you over to local courts and they will scourge you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ And you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations. ¹⁹ However, when they hand you over, do not become anxious about how or what you are to speak, for what you are to speak will be given you in that hour; ²⁰ for the ones speaking are not just you, but it is the spirit of your Father that speaks by you. ²¹ Further, brother will hand brother over to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and will have them put to death. ²² And you will be hated by all people on account of my name, but the one who has endured to the end will be saved. ²³ When they persecute you in one city, flee to another; for truly I say to you, you will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives.

(Galatians 5:22-26) ²² On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³ mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed to the stake the flesh together with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we are living by spirit, let us also go on walking orderly by spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.

(Hebrews 13:14-16) . . .. ¹⁵ Through him let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that make public declaration to his name. ¹⁶ Moreover, do not forget to do good and to share what you have with others, for God is well-pleased with such sacrifices. . .

(Proverbs 13:2, 3)  ² From the fruitage of his speech a man will eat what is good, But the very desire of the treacherous is for violence.  ³ The one guarding his mouth protects his life, But the one opening his lips wide will come to ruin.

(Proverbs 10:19) When words are many, transgression cannot be avoided, But whoever controls his lips acts discreetly.

(Proverbs 15:2) The tongue of the wise makes good use of knowledge, But the mouth of the stupid blurts out foolishness.

(Genesis 19:15-17) ¹⁵ As dawn was breaking, the angels became urgent with Lot, saying: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here with you, so that you will not be swept away in the error of the city!” ¹⁶ When he kept lingering, then because of Jehovah’s compassion for him, the men seized hold of his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, and they brought him out and stationed him outside the city. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them to the outskirts, he said: “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you and do not stand still in any part of the district! Escape to the mountainous region so that you may not be swept away!”

(Genesis 19:23-26) ²³ The sun had risen over the land when Lot arrived at Zoʹar. ²⁴ Then Jehovah made it rain sulfur and fire on Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah—it came from Jehovah, from the heavens. ²⁵ So he overthrew these cities, yes, the entire district, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the plants of the ground. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife, who was behind him, began to look back, and she became a pillar of salt. . .

(Luke 17:31-33) ³¹ “On that day let the person who is on the housetop but whose belongings are in the house not come down to pick these up, and likewise, the person out in the field must not return to the things behind. ³² Remember the wife of Lot. ³³ Whoever seeks to keep his life safe will lose it, but whoever loses it will preserve it alive.

(Hebrews 10:38) “But my righteous one will live by reason of faith,” and “if he shrinks back, I have no pleasure in him.”

(Exodus 14:26-28) ²⁶ Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, their war chariots, and their cavalrymen.” ²⁷ Moses at once stretched out his hand over the sea, and as morning approached, the sea returned to its normal condition. As the Egyptians fled from it, Jehovah shook the Egyptians off into the midst of the sea. ²⁸ The returning waters covered the war chariots and the cavalrymen and all of Pharʹaoh’s army who had gone into the sea after them. Not so much as one among them was allowed to survive.

(Zephaniah 2:3)  ³ Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, Who observe his righteous decrees. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you will be concealed on the day of Jehovah’s anger.

(Amos 5:15) ¹⁵ Hate what is bad, and love what is good, Let justice prevail in the city gate. It may be that Jehovah the God of armies Will show favor to the remaining ones of Joseph.. . .

(2 Corinthians 4:2-6) . . .. ³ If, in fact, the good news we declare is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, ⁴ among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through. ⁵ For we are preaching, not about ourselves, but about Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God is the one who said: “Let the light shine out of darkness,” and he has shone on our hearts to illuminate them with the glorious knowledge of God by the face of Christ.

(Mark 13:18-20) . . .; ¹⁹ for those days will be days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation that God created until that time, and will not occur again. ²⁰ In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen, he has cut short the days.

(Revelation 7:13-17) ¹³ In response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” ¹⁴ So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ That is why they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them. ¹⁶ They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down on them nor any scorching heat, ¹⁷ because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and will guide them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. ² I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(Ezekiel 36:22-30) ²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “Not for your sakes am I acting, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you have gone.”’ ²³ ‘I will certainly sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you profaned among them; and the nations will have to know that I am Jehovah,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘when I am sanctified among you before their eyes. ²⁴ I will take you from the nations and gather you back from all the lands and bring you into your land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will become clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your disgusting idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put my spirit inside you, and I will cause you to walk in my regulations, and you will observe and carry out my judicial decisions. ²⁸ Then you will dwell in the land that I gave to your forefathers, and you will be my people and I will be your God.’ ²⁹ “‘I will save you from all your uncleanness and summon the grain and make it abound, and I will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰ I will make the fruitage of the tree and the produce of the field abound, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. . .

(Ezekiel 34:25-31) ²⁵ “‘“And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and I will rid the land of vicious wild beasts, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests. ²⁶ I will make them and the area around my hill a blessing, and I will cause the rain to fall at the proper time. Blessings will pour down like the rains. ²⁷ The trees of the field will yield their fruit, and the soil will give its produce, and they will dwell securely on the land. And they will have to know that I am Jehovah when I break their yoke bars and rescue them from those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer become something for the nations to prey upon, and the wild beasts of the earth will not devour them, and they will dwell in security, with no one to make them afraid. ²⁹ “‘“I will establish for them a plantation of fame, and they will no longer die from famine in the land, and they will no longer be humiliated by the nations. ³⁰ ‘Then they will have to know that I, Jehovah their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”’ ³¹ “‘As for you, my sheep, the sheep that I care for, you are but men, and I am your God,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”

Are we really in the last days?

Written by Lee Stevenson.

I am writing this to show we are in the final minutes of this system. Most material things will likely be gone. We need to focus on spiritual things being healthy and preparing for what is going to come. In times past when God warned of the events that were going to occur, God’s people heeded his words and prepare for it. When they try to force everyone to bow to the beast instead of God times are going to get very difficult. Some will be arrested and imprisoned, some will be killed, there will be famine and disease will become more rampant. Many will have to flee for their lives if they reject bowing to the beast and choose to remain loyal to God.

We know we are now well are beyond the last hour of this system of things we are in the final minutes because many of the prophecies Jesus has given us have been fulfilled. Now more then ever we need to focus on spiritual things. All this will be gone. Why invest time and our energy in things that will be gone very soon. In the new system no one can take things you earned or built from you. We will have time to do many things we never had time in this system to do. Much of these things will be destroyed just as it was in Noah’s day. We were warned the great apostasy would come first. This is why there are so many religious sects. False religion is rampant on the earth. Many will put their faith in their wealth but it will become valueless. It is the treasures we store up in heaven that will get us through this system and the true wealth is the treasure we store in heaven.

I often times wonder if people would say some of the things they say if Jesus was standing in front of them giving them the warnings of the times we are in. Would they give him excuses. Would they say I cannot change because my family , friends and those of my church would reject me. Would they say I do not have time to prepare for the end of this system? Would they tell him I do not have time to focus on spiritual things I have too much to do. Would they react the way those who tortured him and hung him on a torture steak did. Many of them were upset when he told them to stop practicing traditions of man. Would they get angry if he was standing in front of them and telling them that now? Would they get angry if he told them to focus on spiritual things and health because all this will be gone soon? Well he told us the things his father has taught him so getting angry at the one who is giving the warning as Jesus instructed us to do would be getting angry at Jesus. These ones are trying to lead others to salvation so ignoring their warning that are from the bible would be no different then those who rejected Jesus when he was tortured and kill.

We were told the signs to look for to know we were in the last days. Many of those have occurred. Many would ignore this fact. The bible tells us to stay alert because no one knows what hour God’s great day will occur not even Jesus. Jesus will not know until God gives him the command to end the wickedness and corruption. Jesus did know the signs and what we needed to watch for and the order things would take place. Much of the things he warned us about are being fulfilled now and things are coming to a climax.

(2 Peter 3:5-7) ⁵ For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; ⁶ and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.

(Ezekiel 7:19-21) ¹⁹ “‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become abhorrent to them. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Jehovah’s fury. They will not be satisfied, nor will they fill their stomachs, for it has become a stumbling block causing their error. ²⁰ They took pride in the beauty of their ornaments, and they made with them their detestable images, their disgusting idols. That is why I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. ²¹ I will give it into the hand of the foreigners for plunder and to the wicked ones of the earth for spoil, and they will profane it.

(Zephaniah 1:18) ¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Jehovah’s fury; For by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be consumed, Because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

(Matthew 24:42) Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

(Mark 13:35) Keep on the watch, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether late in the day or at midnight or before dawn or early in the morning,

(Revelation 6:16, 17) And they keep saying to the mountains and to the rocks: “Fall over us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

(Revelation 16:15) “Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one who stays awake and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.”

(Matthew 24:36-44) ³⁶ “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ³⁸ For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, ³⁹ and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the hand mill; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴² Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

(2 Thessalonians 2:3-5) ³ Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. ⁴ He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things?

Now more then ever we need to store up treasure in heaven not treasures on earth.

(Matthew 6:19-24) ¹⁹ “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²² “The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is focused, your whole body will be bright. ²³ But if your eye is envious, your whole body will be dark. If the light that is in you is really darkness, how great that darkness is! ²⁴ “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches.

(Revelation 12:7-12) ⁷ And war broke out in heaven: Miʹcha·el and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled ⁸ but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. ⁹ So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. ¹⁰ I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! ¹¹ And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. ¹² On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.”

People claim to love God but put material things, wealth, power and other desires first. In doing so they harm many people while claiming to be doing God’s work. We will see the fruits of many false religions . These religions are also a sign we are near the end because the bible prophesied when Satan and the demons were cast out of heaven, they knew they would have very little time left so they try to take down as many humans with them as they can. Not only this but since they have been cast out of heaven they are working to corrupt as many as they can and it is not always in obvious ways. Satan has many tools he uses whether it be the desires of the eyes, desire for material things, prestige, power, if those do not work he has the more subtle methods he uses like he did with Job when he tried to break Job’s will. Or he may have someone who appears as an angel of light slowly corrupt us. His drawing us away from God is not always obvious often times it is more subtle and the more drastic things he uses when he cannot draw you away. We have the example of Job to demonstrate what Satan may do if he cannot draw you away from God and pure worship. So we have to be on our guard constantly especially for the more subtle things.

(2 Peter 3:2-7) . . .. ³ First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires ⁴ and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.” ⁵ For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; ⁶ and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.

(2 Timothy 3:1-7) 3 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, ³ having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, ⁴ betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away. ⁶ From among these arise men who slyly work their way into households and captivate weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, ⁷ always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

How do we know we are in the final minutes of this system of things? Many of the prophecies Jesus mentioned when speaking of the last days have been fulfilled. When he spoke of these things happening he was referring to them happening on a grand scale like they had never happened before. In 1914 we had our first world war, later we and a second world war and in that war man had developed the ability to wipe out most of the earth. There are people starving to death by the millions world wide even in some of the wealthiest nations in the world there are people dying of starvation. Major earthquakes occur so frequently now people barely take note of them. Love of the greater number would grow cold. In other words people who let love guide what they do would be uncommon. Because of this most would ignore the laws Jesus gave us. The is very evident it is difficult to know who we can truly trust now days. Pestilence is now rampant. Many are ill from autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases. I remember a time when people died from old age. Now it is usually one of those diseases that kills them. Another of the final prophesies that has been fulfilled is the good news of the heavenly kingdom would be preached in all the earth then the end would come. Many have ministered world wide teaching the hope the heavenly kingdoms gives and promises that give us hope that will be fulfilled. For those nations that could not be reached many shared this hope online. So the good news has reach every part of the earth.

We were warned false religion would be rampant on the earth and we see this by the many sects of religion that has risen up world wide. Jesus warned not everyone professing to speak in his name would claim to be teaching the truth. But because they did not obey God’s laws and followed teachings not taught by Jesus they would not be accepted by him.

(Matthew 24:4-14) ⁴ In answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads you, ⁵ for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. ⁸ All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress. ⁹ “Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. ¹⁰ Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; ¹² and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

(Luke 21:10, 11) ¹⁰ Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another food shortages and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs.

(Luke 13:22-27) ²² And he traveled from city to city and from village to village, teaching and continuing on his journey to Jerusalem. ²³ Now a man said to him: “Lord, are those being saved few?” He said to them: ²⁴ “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able. ²⁵ When the householder gets up and locks the door, you will stand outside knocking at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ But in answer he will say to you: ‘I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will start saying, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our main streets.’ ²⁷ But he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Get away from me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’

(1 Timothy 4:1-5) 4 However, the inspired word clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons, ² by means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, whose conscience is seared as with a branding iron. ³ They forbid marriage and command people to abstain from foods that God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth. ⁴ For every creation of God is fine, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is sanctified through God’s word and prayer over it.

I am writing this to show we are in the final minutes of this system. Most material things will most likely be gone. We need to focus on spiritual things being healthy and preparing for what is going to come. In times past when God warned of the events that were going to occur, God’s people heeded his words and prepare for it. When they try to force everyone to bow to the beast instead of God times are going to get very difficult. Some will be arrested and imprisoned, some will be killed, there will be famine and disease will become more rampant. Many will have to flee for their lives if they reject bowing to the beast and choose to remain loyal to God.

We know we are we know we are beyond the last hour of this system of things we are in the final minutes because many of the prophecies Jesus has given us have been fulfilled. Now more then ever we need to focus on spiritual things. All this will be gone. Why invest time and our energy in things that will be gone very soon. In the new system no one can take things you earned or built from you. We will have time to do many things we never had time in this system to do. Much of these things will be destroyed just as it was in Noah’s day. We were warned the great apostasy would come first. This is why there are so many religious sects. False religion is rampant on the earth. Many will put their faith in their wealth but it will become valueless. It is the treasures we store up in heaven that will get us through this system and the true wealth is the treasure we store in heaven.

I often times wonder if people would say some of the things they say if Jesus was standing in front of them giving them the warnings of the times we are in. Would they give him excuses. Would they say I cannot change because my family , friends and those of my church would reject me. Would they say I do not have time to prepare for the end of this system? Would they tell him I do not have time to focus on spiritual things I have too much to do. Would they react the way those who tortured him and hung him on a torture steak did. Many of them were upset when he told them to stop practicing traditions of man. Would they get angry if he was standing in front of them and telling them that now? Would they get angry if he told them to focus on spiritual things and health because all this will be gone soon? Well he told us the things his father has taught him so getting angry at the one who is giving the warning as Jesus instructed us to do would be getting angry at Jesus. These ones are trying to lead others to salvation so ignoring their warning that are from the bible would be no different then those who rejected Jesus when he was tortured and kill.

We were told the signs to look for to know we were in the last days. Many of those have occurred. Many would ignore this fact. The bible tells us to stay alert because no one knows what hour God’s great day will occur not even Jesus. Jesus will not know until God gives him the command to end the wickedness and corruption. Jesus did know the signs and what we needed to watch for and the order things would take place. Much of the things he warned us about are being fulfilled now and things are coming to a climax.

(2 Peter 3:5-7) ⁵ For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; ⁶ and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.

(Ezekiel 7:19-21) ¹⁹ “‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become abhorrent to them. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Jehovah’s fury. They will not be satisfied, nor will they fill their stomachs, for it has become a stumbling block causing their error. ²⁰ They took pride in the beauty of their ornaments, and they made with them their detestable images, their disgusting idols. That is why I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. ²¹ I will give it into the hand of the foreigners for plunder and to the wicked ones of the earth for spoil, and they will profane it.

(Zephaniah 1:18) ¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Jehovah’s fury; For by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be consumed, Because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

(Matthew 24:42) Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

(Mark 13:35) Keep on the watch, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether late in the day or at midnight or before dawn or early in the morning,

(Revelation 6:16, 17) And they keep saying to the mountains and to the rocks: “Fall over us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

(Revelation 16:15) “Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one who stays awake and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.”

(Matthew 24:36-44) ³⁶ “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ³⁸ For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, ³⁹ and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the hand mill; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴² Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

(2 Thessalonians 2:3-5) ³ Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. ⁴ He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things?

Now more then ever we need to store up treasure in heaven not treasures on earth.

(Matthew 6:19-24) ¹⁹ “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²² “The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is focused, your whole body will be bright. ²³ But if your eye is envious, your whole body will be dark. If the light that is in you is really darkness, how great that darkness is! ²⁴ “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches.

(Revelation 12:7-12) ⁷ And war broke out in heaven: Miʹcha·el and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled ⁸ but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. ⁹ So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. ¹⁰ I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! ¹¹ And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. ¹² On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.”

People claim to love God but put material things, wealth, power and other desires first. In doing so they harm many people while claiming to be doing God’s work. We will see the fruits of many false religions . These religions are also a sign we are near the end because the bible prophesied when Satan and the demons were cast out of heaven, they knew they would have very little time left so they try to take down as many humans with them as they can. Not only this but since they have been cast out of heaven they are working to corrupt as many as they can and it is not always in obvious ways. Satan has many tools he uses whether it be the desires of the eyes, desire for material things, prestige, power, if those do not work he has the more subtle methods he uses like he did with Job when he tried to break Job’s will. Or he may have someone who appears as an angel of light slowly corrupt us. His drawing us away from God is not always obvious often times it is more subtle and the more drastic things he uses when he cannot draw you away. We have the example of Job to demonstrate what Satan may do if he cannot draw you away from God and pure worship. So we have to be on our guard constantly especially for the more subtle things.

(2 Peter 3:2-7) . . .. ³ First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires ⁴ and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.” ⁵ For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; ⁶ and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.

(2 Timothy 3:1-7) 3 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, ³ having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, ⁴ betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away. ⁶ From among these arise men who slyly work their way into households and captivate weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, ⁷ always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

How do we know we are in the final minutes of this system of things? Many of the prophecies Jesus mentioned when speaking of the last days have been fulfilled. When he spoke of these things happening he was referring to them happening on a grand scale like they had never happened before. In 1914 we had our first world war, later we and a second world war and in that war man had developed the ability to wipe out most of the earth. There are people starving to death by the millions world wide even in some of the wealthiest nations in the world there are people dying of starvation. Major earthquakes occur so frequently now people barely take note of them. Love of the greater number would grow cold. In other words people who let love guide what they do would be uncommon. Because of this most would ignore the laws Jesus gave us. The is very evident it is difficult to know who we can truly trust now days. Pestilence is now rampant. Many are ill from autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases. I remember a time when people died from old age. Now it is usually one of those diseases that kills them. Another of the final prophesies that has been fulfilled is the good news of the heavenly kingdom would be preached in all the earth then the end would come. Many have ministered world wide teaching the hope the heavenly kingdoms gives and promises that give us hope that will be fulfilled. For those nations that could not be reached many shared this hope online. So the good news has reach every part of the earth.

We were warned false religion would be rampant on the earth and we see this by the many sects of religion that has risen up world wide. Jesus warned not everyone professing to speak in his name would claim to be teaching the truth. But because they did not obey God’s laws and followed teachings not taught by Jesus they would not be accepted by him.

(Matthew 24:4-14) ⁴ In answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads you, ⁵ for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. ⁸ All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress. ⁹ “Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. ¹⁰ Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; ¹² and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

(Luke 21:10, 11) ¹⁰ Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another food shortages and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs.

(Luke 13:22-27) ²² And he traveled from city to city and from village to village, teaching and continuing on his journey to Jerusalem. ²³ Now a man said to him: “Lord, are those being saved few?” He said to them: ²⁴ “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able. ²⁵ When the householder gets up and locks the door, you will stand outside knocking at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ But in answer he will say to you: ‘I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will start saying, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our main streets.’ ²⁷ But he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Get away from me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’

(1 Timothy 4:1-5) 4 However, the inspired word clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons, ² by means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, whose conscience is seared as with a branding iron. ³ They forbid marriage and command people to abstain from foods that God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth. ⁴ For every creation of God is fine, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is sanctified through God’s word and prayer over it.

(2 Corinthians 11:13-15) . . .. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.

(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12) ⁹ But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders ¹⁰ and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. ¹¹ That is why God lets a deluding influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, ¹² in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.

How can we prepare and what should we do? It is very important to focus on spiritual things now more then ever. We were told to stay alert. God’s word will guide us teach us how to keep from being deceived and make us aware of the time frame we are in so that we may escape the destruction that is coming very soon on this wicked system of things. We have to be careful not to add more burdens on ourselves and to not get over burdened by this world and the anxieties surrounding it. This can draw us away and we will lose sight and then God’s day could suddenly be upon us , by the time we realized the time frame we are in it may be too late as the bible warned. Jesus even warned Mary to simplify her life so she could choose the good portion which would be taking in knowledge of God and learning from Jesus.

(Luke 10:38-42) ³⁸ Now as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village. Here a woman named Martha received him as a guest in her house. ³⁹ She also had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and kept listening to what he was saying. ⁴⁰ Martha, on the other hand, was distracted with attending to many duties. So she came to him and said: “Lord, does it not matter to you that my sister has left me alone to attend to things? Tell her to come and help me.” ⁴¹ In answer the Lord said to her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things. ⁴² A few things, though, are needed, or just one. For her part, Mary chose the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

(Matthew 4:1-4) 4 Then Jesus was led by the spirit up into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. ² After he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, he felt hungry. ³ And the Tempter approached and said to him: “If you are a son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered: “It is written: ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from Jehovah’s mouth.’. . .

(Isaiah 55:1, 2) Come, all you thirsty ones, come to the water! You with no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  ² Why do you keep paying out money for what is not bread, And why spend your earnings for what brings no satisfaction? Listen intently to me, and eat what is good, And you will find great delight in what is truly rich.

(Psalm 36:7, 8)  ⁷ How precious your loyal love is, O God! In the shadow of your wings, the sons of men take refuge.  ⁸ They drink their fill of the rich bounty of your house, And you cause them to drink of the torrent of your delights.

(Luke 21:34-36) ³⁴ “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you ³⁵ as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

(Luke 21:34-36) ³⁴ “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you ³⁵ as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

(Matthew 22:35-40) . . .in the Law, tested him by asking: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ He said to him: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ ³⁸ This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹ The second, like it, is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.”

(Philippians 4:4-7) ⁴ Always rejoice in the Lord. Again I will say, Rejoice! ⁵ Let your reasonableness become known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.

We cannot let fears and anxieties of this system shape how we live our lives. Not let ourselves get overwhelmed by things because very soon things are going to happen we can do nothing about. We have to stay focused , remain faithful and trust Jehovah God and our king Jesus Christ. We need not worry about things we can do nothing about or dwell on them but keep the future hope in mind and have full confidence the promises that gives us the future hope will be fulfilled. Soon all the wickedness, illness, violence, death and many other bad things will be done away with and there will be a new system where those things will never occur again.

(1 Peter 5:6-11) ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time, ⁷ while you throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. ⁸ Keep your senses, be watchful! Your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone. ⁹ But take your stand against him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by the entire association of your brothers in the world. ¹⁰ But after you have suffered a little while, the God of all undeserved kindness, who called you to his everlasting glory in union with Christ, will himself finish your training. He will make you firm, he will make you strong, he will firmly ground you. ¹¹ To him be the might forever. Amen.

(Romans 12:1, 2) 12 Therefore, I appeal to you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason. ² And stop being molded by this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Matthew 6:33, 34) ³³ “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. ³⁴ So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.

(1 Corinthians 3:16, 17) ¹⁶ Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that the spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.

(Revelation 13:16-18) ¹⁶ It puts under compulsion all people—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves—that these should be marked on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷ and that nobody can buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This is where it calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man’s number, and its number is 666.

The king of the North will bring down many natiorns. It will attack true worship which will be the only religion left because of their refusal to turn their backs on God and bow to the beast. When this occurs there will be a great tribulation but this is not a fearful time because it means the new system and the resurrection is near and the bible promises us that God’s people will escape. Then the resurrection follow shortly after.

(Daniel 11:40-12:2) ⁴⁰ “In the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and horsemen and many ships; and he will enter into the lands and sweep through like a flood. ⁴¹ He will also enter into the land of the Decoration, and many lands will be made to stumble. But these are the ones that will escape out of his hand: Eʹdom and Moʹab and the main part of the Amʹmon·ites. ⁴² And he will keep thrusting out his hand against the lands; and as regards the land of Egypt, she will not escape. ⁴³ And he will rule over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the desirable things of Egypt. And the Libʹy·ans and the E·thi·oʹpi·ans will be at his steps. ⁴⁴ “But reports out of the east and out of the north will disturb him, and he will go out in a great rage to annihilate and to devote many to destruction. ⁴⁵ And he will plant his royal tents between the grand sea and the holy mountain of Decoration; and he will come all the way to his end, and there will be no helper for him. 12 “During that time Miʹcha·el will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written down in the book. ² And many of those asleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to everlasting life and others to reproach and to everlasting contempt.

Since we are in the final minutes of this system of things we need to make sure now more then ever what God truly requires. It will preserve our lives and many will make it through the tribulation that is about to occur into the new system. Meaning they will not see death but survive to see love ones they have lost be resurrected. We need to keep in mind when God warned of things that were about to occur God’s people believe and trusted him and adjusted their life styles and sometimes even had to completely change their lives to survive some like Lot had to leave everything behind and start over again. In times of famine they had to store up food in order to make it through the famine. I will cover the things that are about to occur and try the best I can to show how we may be able to prepare for them in my next article.

(Matthew 7:21-27) ²¹ “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. ²² Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’ ²⁴ “Therefore, everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a discreet man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it caved in, and its collapse was great.”

(Revelation 7:9, 10) ⁹ After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they keep shouting with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. ² I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(2 Corinthians 11:13-15) . . .. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.

(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12) ⁹ But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders ¹⁰ and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. ¹¹ That is why God lets a deluding influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, ¹² in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.

How can we prepare and what should we do? It is very important to focus on spiritual things now more then ever. We were told to stay alert. God’s word will guide us teach us how to keep from being deceived and make us aware of the time frame we are in so that we may escape the destruction that is coming very soon on this wicked system of things. We have to be careful not to add more burdens on ourselves and to not get over burdened by this world and the anxieties surrounding it. This can draw us away and we will lose sight and then God’s day could suddenly be upon us , by the time we realized the time frame we are in it may be too late as the bible warned. Jesus even warned Mary to simplify her life so she could choose the good portion which would be taking in knowledge of God and learning from Jesus.

(Luke 10:38-42) ³⁸ Now as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village. Here a woman named Martha received him as a guest in her house. ³⁹ She also had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and kept listening to what he was saying. ⁴⁰ Martha, on the other hand, was distracted with attending to many duties. So she came to him and said: “Lord, does it not matter to you that my sister has left me alone to attend to things? Tell her to come and help me.” ⁴¹ In answer the Lord said to her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things. ⁴² A few things, though, are needed, or just one. For her part, Mary chose the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

(Matthew 4:1-4) 4 Then Jesus was led by the spirit up into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. ² After he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, he felt hungry. ³ And the Tempter approached and said to him: “If you are a son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered: “It is written: ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from Jehovah’s mouth.’. . .

(Isaiah 55:1, 2) Come, all you thirsty ones, come to the water! You with no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  ² Why do you keep paying out money for what is not bread, And why spend your earnings for what brings no satisfaction? Listen intently to me, and eat what is good, And you will find great delight in what is truly rich.

(Psalm 36:7, 8)  ⁷ How precious your loyal love is, O God! In the shadow of your wings, the sons of men take refuge.  ⁸ They drink their fill of the rich bounty of your house, And you cause them to drink of the torrent of your delights.

(Luke 21:34-36) ³⁴ “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you ³⁵ as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

(Luke 21:34-36) ³⁴ “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you ³⁵ as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

(Matthew 22:35-40) . . .in the Law, tested him by asking: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ He said to him: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ ³⁸ This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹ The second, like it, is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.”

(Philippians 4:4-7) ⁴ Always rejoice in the Lord. Again I will say, Rejoice! ⁵ Let your reasonableness become known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.

We cannot let fears and anxieties of this system shape how we live our lives. Not let ourselves get overwhelmed by things because very soon things are going to happen we can do nothing about. We have to stay focused , remain faithful and trust Jehovah God and our king Jesus Christ. We need not worry about things we can do nothing about or dwell on them but keep the future hope in mind and have full confidence the promises that gives us the future hope will be fulfilled. Soon all the wickedness, illness, violence, death and many other bad things will be done away with and there will be a new system where those things will never occur again.

(1 Peter 5:6-11) ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time, ⁷ while you throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. ⁸ Keep your senses, be watchful! Your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone. ⁹ But take your stand against him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by the entire association of your brothers in the world. ¹⁰ But after you have suffered a little while, the God of all undeserved kindness, who called you to his everlasting glory in union with Christ, will himself finish your training. He will make you firm, he will make you strong, he will firmly ground you. ¹¹ To him be the might forever. Amen.

(Romans 12:1, 2) 12 Therefore, I appeal to you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason. ² And stop being molded by this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Matthew 6:33, 34) ³³ “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. ³⁴ So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.

(1 Corinthians 3:16, 17) ¹⁶ Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that the spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.

(Revelation 13:16-18) ¹⁶ It puts under compulsion all people—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves—that these should be marked on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷ and that nobody can buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This is where it calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man’s number, and its number is 666.

The king of the North will bring down many natiorns. It will attack true worship which will be the only religion left because of their refusal to turn their backs on God and bow to the beast. When this occurs there will be a great tribulation but this is not a fearful time because it means the new system and the resurrection is near and the bible promises us that God’s people will escape. Then the resurrection follow shortly after.

(Daniel 11:40-12:2) ⁴⁰ “In the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and horsemen and many ships; and he will enter into the lands and sweep through like a flood. ⁴¹ He will also enter into the land of the Decoration, and many lands will be made to stumble. But these are the ones that will escape out of his hand: Eʹdom and Moʹab and the main part of the Amʹmon·ites. ⁴² And he will keep thrusting out his hand against the lands; and as regards the land of Egypt, she will not escape. ⁴³ And he will rule over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the desirable things of Egypt. And the Libʹy·ans and the E·thi·oʹpi·ans will be at his steps. ⁴⁴ “But reports out of the east and out of the north will disturb him, and he will go out in a great rage to annihilate and to devote many to destruction. ⁴⁵ And he will plant his royal tents between the grand sea and the holy mountain of Decoration; and he will come all the way to his end, and there will be no helper for him. 12 “During that time Miʹcha·el will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written down in the book. ² And many of those asleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to everlasting life and others to reproach and to everlasting contempt.

Since we are in the final minutes of this system of things we need to make sure now more then ever what God truly requires. It will preserve our lives and many will make it through the tribulation that is about to occur into the new system. Meaning they will not see death but survive to see love ones they have lost be resurrected. We need to keep in mind when God warned of things that were about to occur God’s people believe and trusted him and adjusted their life styles and sometimes even had to completely change their lives to survive some like Lot had to leave everything behind and start over again. In times of famine they had to store up food in order to make it through the famine. I will cover the things that are about to occur and try the best I can to show how we may be able to prepare for them in my next article.

(Matthew 7:21-27) ²¹ “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. ²² Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’ ²⁴ “Therefore, everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a discreet man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it caved in, and its collapse was great.”

(Revelation 7:9, 10) ⁹ After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they keep shouting with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. ² I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

The danger of being spiritually overconfident.

First number is the chapter. The second number is the verse.

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am a lousy editor.

I broke this up in sections to make it easier to read.

Confidence is a good thing. We need confidence in order to do God’s will, to share his word with others and to do our best to do his will. It is when we get overconfident is when we could error. This has caused many to fall short in the past and not only resulted in one harming themselves but it brought harm on others and in some instances caused some to lose favor with God. If we become over confident we stop listening to the little things and may view them as something minor providing an opportunity for sin. We are very near the conclusion of this system of things so now more then ever we need to pay attention and stay alert. Our staying alert and not becoming over confidence is very important in order for us to receive the future promises that give us hope.

We have to be careful about our confidence and in our abilities to handle our sinful nature we inherited from Adam and Eve. We should always be on the guard. We have many examples like king David, Korah, and many others who got over confident about their standing with God , and their handle on their sinful nature which caused them to miss the mark. It is usually when we are most confident that we are the most vulnerable to falling short. Pride can contribute to overconfidence and it resulted in Korah rebelling against the arrangements God had made. This resulted in Korah and others losing their lives. King Solomon had many wives and concubines. Israel was not to marry women of the nations because they worshiped foreign gods. Solomon put trust in his wisdom and standing with God and his overconfidence caused him to disobey God and take in wives and concubines from the nations. This eventually led to him worshiping foreign God’s in opposition to Jehovah.

(1 Corinthians 10:12) 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall.

(Proverbs 28:14) 14 Happy is the man who is always on guard, But whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

(Proverbs 16:18-20) 18 Pride is before a crash, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. 19 Better to be humble among the meek Than to share the spoil of the haughty. 20 The one who shows insight in a matter will find success, And happy is the one trusting in Jehovah.

(Numbers 16:1-3) 16 Then Korʹah the son of Izʹhar, the son of Koʹhath, the son of Leʹvi, got up together with Daʹthan and A·biʹram the sons of E·liʹab, and On the son of Peʹleth, of the sons of Reuʹben. 2 They rose up against Moses along with 250 Israelite men, chieftains of the assembly, chosen ones of the congregation, prominent men. 3 So they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them: “We have had enough of you! The whole assembly is holy, all of them, and Jehovah is in their midst. Why, then, should you exalt yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?” . King Davids overconfidence resulted in him sinning against God and another man, this eventually led to king David being responsible for the mans death.

(Numbers 16:31-35) 31 As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split apart. 32 And the earth opened and swallowed them up, along with their households and everyone who belonged to Korʹah and all their goods. 33 So they and all who belonged to them went down alive into the Grave, and the earth covered them over, so that they perished from the midst of the congregation. 34 All the Israelites who were around them fled at their screaming, for they said: “We are afraid that the earth may swallow us up!” 35 Then a fire came out from Jehovah and consumed the 250 men offering the incense. . .

(2 Samuel 11:2-4) 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the rooftop of the king’s house. From the rooftop he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman, and he reported: “Is this not Bath-sheʹba the daughter of E·liʹam and the wife of U·riʹah the Hitʹtite?” 4 Then David sent messengers to bring her. So she came in to him, and he lay down with her. (This happened while she was purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Afterward, she returned to her house.

(1 Kings 11:1-6) 11 But King Solʹo·mon loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharʹaoh: Moʹab·ite, Amʹmon·ite, Eʹdom·ite, Si·doʹni·an, and Hitʹtite women. 2 They were from the nations about whom Jehovah had said to the Israelites: “You must not go in among them, and they should not come in among you, for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods.” But Solʹo·mon clung to them and loved them. 3 And he had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives gradually inclined his heart. 4 In Solʹo·mon’s old age, his wives inclined his heart to follow other gods, and his heart was not complete with Jehovah his God like the heart of David his father. 5 And Solʹo·mon followed after Ashʹto·reth, the goddess of the Si·doʹni·ans, and Milʹcom, the disgusting god of the Amʹmon·ites. 6 And Solʹo·mon did what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, and he did not follow Jehovah completely as David his father had done.

Peter became overconfident, in doing so Peter became blind to his short comings. It resulted in him denying he knew Jesus three times. This is why the bible warned us we must always keep on the watch and pray continually. This also requires us to stay aware we are an imperfect human.

Be vigilant in prayers and do all things as if we were doing them for God. Jesus was very persistent in praying. Jesus persisted in prayer even when he was dying. Jesus did not only pray for himself he prayed for others. The apostles followed Jesus example.

Matt. 26:31-35, 69-75

(John 13:36-38) 36 Simon Peter said to him: “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered: “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to him: “Lord, why is it I cannot follow you now? I will surrender my life in your behalf.” 38 Jesus answered: “Will you surrender your life in my behalf? Most truly I say to you, a rooster will by no means crow until you have disowned me three times.”

(Mark 14:38) 38 Keep on the watch and pray continually, so that you do not come into temptation. The spirit, of course, is eager, but the flesh is weak.

(Romans 7:21-25) 21 I find, then, this law in my case: When I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. 22 I really delight in the law of God according to the man I am within, 23 but I see in my body another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin’s law that is in my body. 24 Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death? 25 Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, then, with my mind I myself am a slave to God’s law, but with my flesh to sin’s law.

(1 Peter 4:7-11) 7 But the end of all things has drawn close. Therefore, be sound in mind, and be vigilant with a view to prayers. 8 Above all things, have intense love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 To the extent that each one has received a gift, use it in ministering to one another as fine stewards of God’s undeserved kindness that is expressed in various ways. 11 If anyone speaks, let him do so as speaking pronouncements from God; if anyone ministers, let him do so as depending on the strength that God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. The glory and the might are his forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 9:18; Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35, Matt. 27:46; Luke 23:46; John 19:30; Ps. 22:1; 31:5, Rom. 15:30; 1 Thess. 1:2; 1 Pet. 4:7

Satan is always looking to take us down. We live in the last days the lines between right and wrong have be skewed. We need to turn to God and let him guide us and help us determine what is Right and what is wrong. All the worldly things will be gone soon. No wealth or material things will save anyone but it is their faith and trust in God that will save them. Satan even tries to use our good qualities to tempt us. He tried to use Jesus compassion and desire to help others to get Jesus to do an act of worship to him but Jesus refused he put his faith in his heavenly father and the world he had given us. Jesus valued doing God’s will so much that he even put it over food in order of importance.

(1 Peter 5:7, 8) . . .. 8 Keep your senses, be watchful! Your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone. . .

(2 Timothy 3:1-5) 3 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away.

(1 John 2:15-17) 15 Do not love either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; 16 because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. 17 Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

(Matthew 4:3, 4) . . .” 4 But he answered: “It is written: ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from Jehovah’s mouth.. . .

(Matthew 5:3) 3 “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.

(Isaiah 55:3)  3 Incline your ear and come to me. Listen, and you will keep alive, And I will readily make with you an everlasting covenant In harmony with the expressions of loyal love to David, which are faithful. . .

(Matthew 4:1-4) 4 Then Jesus was led by the spirit up into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, he felt hungry. 3 And the Tempter approached and said to him: “If you are a son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered: “It is written: ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from Jehovah’s mouth.’”

(John 4:31-34) 31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him: “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them: “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another: “No one brought him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus said to them: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

We need to be shrewd and cautious with every step we take. Especially now days with the lines between right and wrong being so skewed. The bible warns us not to trust our hearts because the heart can deceive us. We should fear Jehovah God and let his wisdom found in the world he has given us to guide us. Becoming overconfident in our spiritual maturity or our own abilities or even man can not only bring harm to ourselves and cause us to sin it can also negative effect others around us.

(Proverbs 14:15, 16) 15 The naive person believes every word, But the shrewd one ponders each step. 16 The wise one is cautious and turns away from evil, But the stupid one is reckless and overconfident.

(Jeremiah 17:9)  9 The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?

(Proverbs 28:26) 26 Whoever trusts in his own heart is stupid, But the one who walks in wisdom will escape. . .

(Job 28:28) 28 And he said to man: ‘Look! The fear of Jehovah—that is wisdom, And to turn away from bad is understanding.. . .

(Proverbs 3:7)  7 Do not become wise in your own eyes. Fear Jehovah and turn away from bad.

King Asa did not become over confident in the peace that Israel was experiencing after they removed the foreign gods. He used the time of peace to fortify Israel’s cities and to fortify Israel spiritually. Even when we are hungry there are foods we still are not permitted to eat and these are foods that still contain blood in them. In some culture they eat the blood or use it to prepare meals. Daniel and his friends refused to eat the food the king provided because it was declared unclean by God and they chose to obey God. This resulted in them being healthier then those who chose to eat the kings food showing even in what we eat we cannot put our confidence in the food but in God who will sustain us.

The lines between right and wrong are very skewed now days. They have many celebrations that are heavily laden with idolatry. The media and others glorify those who pursue power and wealth and some churches even promote those in their congregations who pursue such things. It is not a sin to acquire wealth or if we are put in a position of power but this should not be our goal gaining spiritual wealth should be our goal because all things in this present system will be gone soon but the spiritual treasure stored up in heaven will remain forever.

We are told in the last days the reason these things would occur. People would no longer listen to sound doctrine but would surround them with teachers who would scratch their itchy ears. In other words they would surround themselves with teachers who would tell them what they want to here not what they need to here. We have to remember in times past when a prophet was sent to correct Israel because they were no longer worshiping God in truth they would persecute and sometimes kill them. We are in the last days these things are occurring on a world wide scale. Soon the whole world will turn on true worship. So now more then ever we need to be aware that we are imperfect humans and not trust in things of the world or in ourselves but let God’s world and love guide all we do. This will protect us and God will reward those who trust in him and have faith in him and his son our king Jesus Christ who set the example of obedience even when facing persecution and death. God will reward those who know this is all temporary and their main focus is storing up treasures in heaven.

We must hate what is bad in God’s eyes and love what is good in God’s eyes and in order to know what is good in his eyes we need to deeply study his word so we can get to know him thoroughly. We may become too confident and associate with those who do not believe, or we may associate with those who seem to not be so sinful. These ones have drawn people away from Jehovah in the past and caused them to fall short. So we must be cautious because you can be certain Solomon may have seen many good qualities in the wives and concubines from the nations but his overconfidence in them drew him away from true worship. We should be very careful not to become overconfident in our knowledge or our spirituality to the point we drop our guard keeping in mind that God will reward those who endure to the end.

(2 Chronicles 14:2-7) 2 Aʹsa did what was good and right in the eyes of Jehovah his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the sacred poles. 4 Further, he told Judah to search for Jehovah the God of their forefathers and to observe the Law and the commandment. 5 So he removed from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense stands, and under him, the kingdom continued without disturbance. 6 He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land had no disturbance and there was no war against him during these years, for Jehovah gave him rest. 7 He said to Judah: “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. For the land is still at our disposal, because we have searched for Jehovah our God. We have searched, and he has given us rest all around.” So their building was successful.

(Daniel 1:8-15) 8 But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies or with the wine he drank. So he asked the principal court official for permission not to defile himself in this way. 9 And the true God caused the principal court official to show Daniel favor and mercy. 10 But the principal court official said to Daniel: “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. What if he should see you looking worse in appearance than the other youths of your age? You would make me guilty before the king.” 11 But Daniel said to the guardian whom the principal court official had appointed over Daniel, Han·a·niʹah, Mishʹa·el, and Az·a·riʹah: 12 “Please, test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink; 13 then compare our appearance with the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s delicacies, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he agreed to their proposal and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days their appearance was better and healthier than all the youths who were eating the king’s delicacies.

(Acts 15:19, 20) 19 Therefore, my decision is not to trouble those from the nations who are turning to God, 20 but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood.

(Isaiah 5:20, 21) 20 Woe to those who say that good is bad and bad is good, Those who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, Those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those wise in their own eyes And discreet in their own sight!

(Amos 6:12) 12 Do horses run on a crag, Or will one plow there with cattle? For you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.

(1 Timothy 4:1-5) 4 However, the inspired word clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, whose conscience is seared as with a branding iron. 3 They forbid marriage and command people to abstain from foods that God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth. 4 For every creation of God is fine, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is sanctified through God’s word and prayer over it.

(Ephesians 6:10-13) 10 Finally, go on acquiring power in the Lord and in the mightiness of his strength. 11 Put on the complete suit of armor from God so that you may be able to stand firm against the crafty acts of the Devil; 12 because we have a struggle, not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places. 13 For this reason take up the complete suit of armor from God, so that you may be able to resist in the wicked day and, after you have accomplished everything, to stand firm.

(Amos 5:15) 15 Hate what is bad, and love what is good, Let justice prevail in the city gate. It may be that Jehovah the God of armies Will show favor to the remaining ones of Joseph.’

(Psalm 97:10) O you who love Jehovah, hate what is bad. He is guarding the lives of his loyal ones; He rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

(Romans 12:9) Let your love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is wicked; cling to what is good.

The bible tells us those who worship in truth will suffer tribulation and will be hated. We have to keep in mind Jesus own people tortured and killed him. Jesus knew this would occur but did not leave that deter him from warning others of the things to come, teaching them about his father, giving them hope in the future promises and teaching them how to obey and have faith in his heavenly father. He was rewarded for his faith and loyalty to God and was promoted to a position in the heavenly kingdom of great authority. If we do our best to imitate Jesus and store up treasures in heaven and do our best to not tire out keeping in mind we will be persecuted in many ways and the persecution is not always obvious. If it was then we could easily prepare but often times in the bible the very people who were pretending to be someones friend would be the one sabotaging the one who was worshiping God in truth. This is why we should let God’s word guide who we call friends it will work to protect us. Having friends who do not share our faith or loyalty to God can put a heavier burden on us. A yoke is what is used to tie beast of burden together so they could share a load. If you put two types of beast of burden to one yoke it would cause them to work against each other. This is why we are warned not to become unevenly yoked with those who do not believe in true worship because we will have burden enough from those who oppose true worship why add farther to that burden?

Now days things have reach a point where many have no idea what is right or wrong and their minds are heavily burdened by not knowing what they should do or what they should think. This is why now more then ever we should listen to Jesus and follow his example. Jesus and our heavenly father Jehovah made it very clear what is right and what is wrong in their eyes. By taking in knowledge of them and putting on Jesus yoke it relieves the burdens many others have and the constant states of confusion and indecision they seem plagued with. Who better to be yoked to then Jesus?

(Matthew 10:22) And you will be hated by all people on account of my name, but the one who has endured to the end will be saved.

(Mark 13:13) And you will be hated by all people on account of my name. But the one who has endured to the end will be saved.

(Luke 21:19) By your endurance you will preserve your lives.

(Hebrews 10:36) For you need endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive

the fulfillment of the promise.

(Revelation 2:10) Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. Look! The Devil will keep on throwing some of you into prison so that you may be fully put to the test, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Prove yourself faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life

(2 Corinthians 6:14-18) 14 Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? 15 Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Beʹli·al? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: “I will reside among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 “‘Therefore, get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing’”; “‘and I will take you in.’” 18 “‘And I will become a father to you, and you will become sons and daughters to me,’ says Jehovah, the Almighty.”

(Matthew 11:25-30) 25 At that time Jesus said in response: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children. 26 Yes, O Father, because this is the way you approved. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone fully know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son is willing to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for yourselves. 30 For my yoke is kindly, and my load is light.”

Now more then ever you can see how unreasonable man is and how they are like a wave on the sea which blows whichever way the wind blows. God does not change and what he requires does not change. In knowing God and his son Jesus we are not burdened like others when it comes to knowing when to make our yes mean yes and our no mean no. If we are torn between loyalty to the world and loyalty to God then we are trying to slave two masters adding even more burden to us. The bible warns us we cannot slave for two masters. We will suffer no matter what because this system is coming to it’s conclusion. It is better to suffer as a slave to God then to suffer as a slave to the world.

The bible warned we would have to endure many things but we can be certain neither that our appointed king Jesus Christ understands our suffering because he endured the same sufferings. Nothing can separate us from the love he has for us. He gave his own life so many could be saved. So we have a king who understands our suffering and loves us deeply. Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus not even death. Jesus came to earth and put God’s will first. He knew what God’s will was because when he was in heaven with God before he had came to earth he learned from God so could perfectly imitate him. Jesus clearly demonstrated his love for man. This shows that God also loves man deeply and desires all to repent and draw close to him and his son Jesus. Those who do so will be rewarded. Since Jesus was the very first creation of God we can be sure he knew God very well and could perfectly imitate what he had seen his father do.

(James 5:12) 12 Above all, my brothers, stop swearing, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” mean yes and your “No,” no, so that you do not become liable to judgment.

(Matthew 5:36, 37) . . .. 37 Just let your word ‘Yes’ mean yes, your ‘No,’ no, for what goes beyond these is from the wicked one.

(Matthew 6:19-24) 19 “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is focused, your whole body will be bright. 23 But if your eye is envious, your whole body will be dark. If the light that is in you is really darkness, how great that darkness is! 24 “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches. . .

(Romans 8:35-39) 35 Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering.” 37 On the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through the one who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers 39 nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(John 6:37-39) 37 All those whom the Father gives me will come to me, and I will never drive away the one who comes to me; 38 for I have come down from heaven to do, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose none out of all those whom he has given me, but that I should resurrect them on the last day.

(Colossians 1:15) 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

(Proverbs 8:22) Jehovah produced me as the beginning of his way, The earliest of his achievements of long ago.

(Revelation 3:14) “To the angel of the congregation in La·o·di·ceʹa write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God:

The bible warned we would have to endure many things but we can be certain neither that our appointed king Jesus Christ understands our suffering because he endured the same sufferings. Nothing can separate us from the love he has for us. He gave his own life so many could be saved. So we have a king who understands our suffering and loves us deeply. Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus not even death. Jesus came to earth and put God’s will first. He knew what God’s will was because when he was in heaven with God before he had came to earth he learned from God so could perfectly imitate him. Jesus clearly demonstrated his love for man. This shows that God also loves man deeply and desires all to repent and draw close to him and his son Jesus. Those who do so will be rewarded. Since Jesus was the very first creation of God we can be sure he knew God very well and could perfectly imitate what he had seen his father do. Jesus even stated he does what he seen his father do. So if we endure a little longer we will be rewarded.

The new system will be here very soon. There will be no more hate, no more evil, no more corruption , no more death and tears of sorrow those will all be done away with. If we endure a little longer we may see loved ones we lost in death during the resurrection.

(James 5:12) 12 Above all, my brothers, stop swearing, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” mean yes and your “No,” no, so that you do not become liable to judgment.

(Matthew 5:36, 37) . . .. 37 Just let your word ‘Yes’ mean yes, your ‘No,’ no, for what goes beyond these is from the wicked one.

(Matthew 6:19-24) 19 “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is focused, your whole body will be bright. 23 But if your eye is envious, your whole body will be dark. If the light that is in you is really darkness, how great that darkness is! 24 “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches. . .

(Romans 8:35-39) 35 Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering.” 37 On the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through the one who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers 39 nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(John 6:37-39) 37 All those whom the Father gives me will come to me, and I will never drive away the one who comes to me; 38 for I have come down from heaven to do, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose none out of all those whom he has given me, but that I should resurrect them on the last day.

(Colossians 1:15) 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

(Proverbs 8:22) Jehovah produced me as the beginning of his way, The earliest of his achievements of long ago.

(Revelation 3:14) “To the angel of the congregation in La·o·di·ceʹa write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God:

(John 8:57, 58) 57 Then the Jews said to him: “You are not yet 50 years old, and still you have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.. . .

(John 5:19-22) 19 Therefore, in response Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, the Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things that One does, these things the Son does also in like manner. 20 For the Father has affection for the Son and shows him all the things he himself does, and he will show him works greater than these, so that you may marvel. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead up and makes them alive, so the Son also makes alive whomever he wants to. 22 For the Father judges no one at all, but he has entrusted all the judging to the Son,

(Psalm 37:9-11)  9 For evil men will be done away with, But those hoping in Jehovah will possess the earth. ו [Waw] 10 Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more; You will look at where they were, And they will not be there. 11 But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. . .

(Isaiah 35:4-7)  4 Say to those who are anxious at heart: “Be strong. Do not be afraid. Look! Your own God will come with vengeance, God will come with retribution. He will come and save you.”  5 At that time the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.  6 At that time the lame will leap like the deer, And the tongue of the speechless will shout for joy. For waters will burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert plain.  7 The heat-parched ground will become a reedy pool, And the thirsty ground springs of water. In the lairs where jackals rested, There will be green grass and reeds and papyrus.

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(John 5:28, 29) Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.

(Matthew 24:12-14) . . .. 13 But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. 14 And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

(Hebrews 10:35-39) 35 Therefore, do not throw away your boldness, which will be richly rewarded. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the fulfillment of the promise. 37 For yet “a very little while,” and “the one who is coming will arrive and will not delay.” 38 “But my righteous one will live by reason of faith,” and “if he shrinks back, I have no pleasure in him.” 39 Now we are not the sort who shrink back to destruction, but the sort who have faith for the preserving of our lives.

How do we know the end of this system is near and why should we be happy?

How to use.

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am a lousy editor.

It has become clear we are living in the time of judgment but we should have no fear these are happy times. The time for restoration is near and many will not experience death at all but will walk through the great tribulation into the new system. I am going to discuss why and how this will occur. I am also going to discuss why God is not cruel concerning these matters. These are happy times it means the end of all the bad will be near and the new system will be here soon. We only have to endure a little longer. The promises and the hope they have given us are at hand. We need to stand up now and have courage. Thing will get much worse but we have to keep in mind this is temporary and the things in the new system are forever. So there will be no more suffering, tear, sorrow or pain.

The bible tells us God will judge the nations. Many will be destroyed in this time of judgment. Many are in fear of that judgment and some do not believe it will occur. Some believe it only means we should flee false worship but Jesus clearly said some would not escape and would be imprisoned and killed. So it would have to mean we need to flee for our own safety. Many will follow misleading teaching and be swept away with the others who did not worship in truth and have a complete heart with God. We need to ask how can I avoid the destruction that will occur so I can live forever. We know the time for the destruction of the wicked is very very near because the message of the kingdom has reached all the earth and it is one of the final prophecies to be fulfilled. So the end is very very near. Now more then ever we need to prepare. There are signs Jesus told us to look for. Naysayers will claim these things have always occurred. What we need to consider is when Jesus was saying these things would occur he meant on a scale they have never occurred before. We are seeing pestilence severely plaguing the earth, children are starving to death world wide even in some of the wealthiest nations in the world there are people starving to death. There are many homeless world wide. Some of the wealthiest nations in the world have some of the highest rates of homelessness. Violence, and wars are occurring on a scale like never before. Death is so rampant that often times grand parents are left to raise their grand children because their parents have died. We have polluted the earth with toxins so severely that some food is no longer safe to consume. Many species of animals, and insects have become extinct. Because of the over use of farm chemicals and other toxins many species of pollinating insects are now near extinction bringing our food supply very near collapse. Earthquakes occur so frequently now that when it is on the news hardly anyone even takes note of it. These things are already occurring on a scale they have never occurred before indicating we are very very near the end of this system. The is not gloomy news though. It is why God had the good news of the kingdom told throughout the earth to give us hope. To reassure us that things will be better very very soon. The earth will be restored and the original purpose for the earth will be fulfilled.

Jesus constantly stressed the importance of staying alert. To always be prepared. Many will not believe it is almost time to flee. They will believe God’s great day is far off and will not escape. Jesus gave us all the signs to look for. We know the disgusting thing is the beast mentioned in the bible and it’s allies. When the beast replaces God and bans worship of the one true God and we are required to submit to it’s authority it is time to flee. We seen with the recent pandemic the beast starting to exert it’s authority world wide. It this time they will also start declaring there is going to be peace and security. It is using peoples fears to get them to submit to it’s authority on a world wide scale and it will soon try to completely replace God as the rightful ruler over the earth. The beast will offer people a false sense of peace and security and make promises it cannot fulfill fooling those who do not know their bibles well into bowing down to it. Those who do not flee will be forced to bow to the beast. Some we love will lack the faith to listen to Jesus warnings and carry on like these things are not occurring. When the time comes for us to flee we cannot leave the fact ones we love very much stayed behind and did not heed the warnings. We have to remember judgment will be on a world wide scale. We cannot look back when it is time to flee like Lot’s wife did. We cannot have doubts of the things Jesus told us to do in order to prepare. When it is time to flee if we have doubts it shows we lack trust and faith in what he has told us and in what he will do. Those who do not flee will be destroyed because we have to remember those without faith will also be destroyed. We need to prepare our hearts now because there are some who seem to have a lot of faith but they will not heed the warnings and will not be prepared. We need to pray for their eyes to be open but also prepare for if their eyes are not opened and not let it hinder us if they choose not to believe Jesus warning when the time comes.

The bible tells us there are many who will survive this great tribulation. In times past when God judged nations those who remained faithful and loyal to him had to flee. Those who lacked the faith and loyalty will be judged with the nations. If they lack the faith to heed Jesus warnings it means they do not trust him or believe the words he has given us. No matter how much we may care for someone when it is time to flee we cannot look back. We cannot let anything we left behind slow our escape. The judgment is going to happen on a world wide scale. We are warned there will be a tribulation like there has never been before. So if we have to flee we have to keep in mind we will have to endure hard times for a short period of time no matter what. Wouldn’t it be better to flee as a righteous person rather then lacking faith and lagging behind and suffering as an unrighteous because we either did not have faith in the things Jesus has warned us of or we did not have the courage to act on the things we have been told?

These things must occur. If God tolerated a lack of faith, a lack of trust in his word, in him or his son Jesus Christ then man would continue to be in a spiritual state of decline. We must trust , love and believe God and his son our king Jesus with our whole hearts, our whole minds and our whole soul. Man has put their faith in themselves and we are seeing the end results. We need to let God guide all we do, keeping in mind that what we endure will be will worth it because there will be no more suffering, illness, death , pain or tears of sorrow. There will be a peaceful , new paradise earth. We do not have to have fear if we are imprisoned before we can flee because Jesus assured us that it is his fathers will for us to be resurrected and those who are righteous will not experience the second death experienced by Satan, the demons and humans who chose to oppose God will experience.

Some do not believe this destruction will not come and all this destruction is a figurative destruction. I will not get into detail on why it will be a literal destruction but we have examples in the bible of times past when God physically destroyed the wicked. This will occur on a world wide scale and it will never occur like this again because this time in the second death Satan and the demons will also be destroyed and will not be able to corrupt man again. Some think this is cruel or mean. We have to keep in mind God’s thoughts are much higher then our thoughts are. We are imperfect humans. If you had a child who was constantly being stolen from, constantly being beat up, and your children were constantly being murdered would you not want to do away with the one causing the harm? God has given man more then enough time to change. He has had his messengers warning people. As in times past they are paying no attention to the warnings and even saying it will not happen in our time. God’s thought are much higher then our thoughts. We should not question him. His sense of justice is perfect and he knows what is needed in order to restore peace and security on the earth. Man has had more then enough time to show we cannot do it without God. We have fought wars in trying to bring peace, there are many charitable organizations and till homelessness and starvation are rampant on the earth. We have progressed scientifically and it has only caused chronic illness and disease to get worse. It has become clear man cannot guide our own steps. Wouldn’t it be cruel for God to leave this error of man continue? Look at the harm we have done even in times with good intentions. We lack the foresight and wisdom that God has , it has become very clear man does not have what it takes to rule and guide ourselves. Some believe God is cruel for waiting so long. We have to keep in mind he desires none to be destroyed and is giving people a chance to repent.

Jehovah God has demonstrated his love , patience and mercy many times in the past. He has been very patient and merciful to the point he does not punish us for all sins we commit. If it was only our sins he looked at no one would be able to stand. If we are repentant and continue to grow in taking in knowledge of him and his only begotten son Jesus he is happy to be forgiving and merciful. God desires none to be destroyed. Sadly we know few will follow Jesus and few will enter in through the narrow gate. The destruction that will come on them is their choice for not trusting God and heeding his warnings. Death is God’s enemy and he finds no joy in it. It is why that will be the final enemy to be destroyed. Many will be professing to do things in Jesus name but few will truly follow in his foot steps, the bible tells us Jesus will say to them I do not know you. So it is very important for us to know what God requires, have complete faith in God and Jesus Christ our king. Now is not the time to shrink back in fear because the time of restoration is very very near and it could determine whether we live or die. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He would desire all to repent and have faith in him but not all will choose to be loyal and faithful to God. When it is time to flee we need to keep in mind what we are fleeing from and why. We can be assured what we will return to will be much better then what we fled from. We cannot be like Lots wife who hesitated and looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt.

We cannot let those who do not believe we are in the climax of things and the end of this system is at hand hinder us when it is time to flee. We have the example of Abraham when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. He would not have destroyed them if there was a single righteous person. God had read their hearts and new none of them would repent. When the destruction comes we ca be sure those who did not flee either did not believe Jesus warning or they chose not to repent. God would not leave anyone righteous behind. We also have to consider what is righteous in God’s eyes not what is righteous in mans eyes. Someone may seem kind and caring but there are many examples of kind and caring people who lacked faith in God so they brought harm on others. Our hearts must be complete towards God and we should not doubt anything we have read in his word or the things we must do to please him and to survive the destruction coming on this world wide system of things. While we patiently wait we need to continue to try our best to find all God’s sheep, and to produce good fruits and not get lax in our attitudes in believing God is delaying things because the destruction will come suddenly and at a time that we do not know. So when it is time to flee we cannot falsely reason that there is still time. Abraham did this and barely escaped the destruction. We should not fret the things we have to leave behind. The bible says in the day of destruction their silver and gold will not be able to save them. Our salvation comes from God who has appointed a savior and a king to protect us and get us through this tribulation and this is Jesus Christ. Though the signs are very clearly there that we are in the final minutes of this system of things many will not believe it and will carry on life as usual and not prepare themselves spiritually, mentally or even physically for the things that are about to occur. Their lack of faith will end in them not escaping destruction. We must be very very careful associating with such ones so we do not delay when it is time to flee. We should continue to try and build their faith and plant the seeds and pray for them but we should be very very careful their lack of faith does not get us to stop remaining alert and on the watch. We could very easily become blinded to the reality that all the prophecies showing it will be time to flee soon has occurred and some are occurring at this very moment. I know these are difficult words to here but we each are given a choice, those who do not heed Jesus warnings and do not flee will have made their choice. We cannot make the decisions for them they have to set their minds on spiritual things and trust God completely in order to escape what is about to occur. These ones do not pay attention to the sign Jesus and the apostles told us to watch for they need direct evidence. Unfortunately when that occurs it will be too late for them to escape because that evidence will be seen while the destruction is occurring and there will be no escape for those who did not have the faith to heed Jesus words.

Now more then ever it if very important to continue to work towards repentance as our knowledge grows of God and his only begotten son. We need to trust him and listen to all he has warned us of and have no doubts. We need to persist in prayer and in producing the fruits of the spirit. This will prevent us from being blinded to what is occurring now and what is about to occur. We are very near to much happier times. We are at a point in time similar to when Israel could see the promised land. Some of them lost faith just before entering the promised land and died. Me are very very near to the new system now more then ever we should be happy that the hope in the future promises are about to be fulfilled and if we make it through the great tribulation we will get to see many of our dead loved ones we lost during the resurrection.

If you still have any doubts about the times we are in I am going to post scriptures to show we are in the final minutes of this system. Keep in mind though these things have always occurred they have never occurred on the grand scale they are now or all at the same times as they are occurring now. We need to keep in mind Jesus said these things would occur on a scale no one has ever seen before. The starvation, earthquakes, pestilence, violence, wars, and many other things are happening on a world wild scale at a level they have never occurred before.

(Matthew 24:4-14) 4 In answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads you, 5 for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. 8 All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress. 9 “Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. 10 Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; 12 and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. 13 But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. 14 And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

(Matthew 10:16-31) 16 “Look! I am sending you out as sheep among wolves; so prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard against men, for they will hand you over to local courts and they will scourge you in their synagogues. 18 And you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations. 19 However, when they hand you over, do not become anxious about how or what you are to speak, for what you are to speak will be given you in that hour; 20 for the ones speaking are not just you, but it is the spirit of your Father that speaks by you. 21 Further, brother will hand brother over to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and will have them put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all people on account of my name, but the one who has endured to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one city, flee to another; for truly I say to you, you will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives. 24 “A student is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the student to become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If people have called the master of the house Be·elʹze·bub, how much more those of his household? 26 So do not fear them, for there is nothing covered over that will not become uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I tell you in the darkness, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, preach from the housetops. 28 And do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Ge·henʹna. 29 Two sparrows sell for a coin of small value, do they not? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.

(John 5:28-30) 28 Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment. 30 I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous because I seek, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

(1 Thessalonians 5:1-9) 5 Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. 3 Whenever it is that they are saying, “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them, just like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape. 4 But you, brothers, you are not in darkness, so that the day should overtake you as it would thieves, 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We belong neither to night nor to darkness. 6 So, then, let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay awake and keep our senses. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But as for us who belong to the day, let us keep our senses and put on the breastplate of faith and love and the hope of salvation as a helmet 9 because God assigned us, not to wrath, but to the acquiring of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. . .

(Matthew 24:15-22) 15 “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), 16 then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. 17 Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house, 18 and let the man in the field not return to pick up his outer garment. 19 Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! 20 Keep praying that your flight may not occur in wintertime nor on the Sabbath day; 21 for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. 22 In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.

(Matthew 24:36-44) 36 “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 38 For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. 41 Two women will be grinding at the hand mill; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. 42 Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

(Revelation 7:13-17) . . .” 14 So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 That is why they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down on them nor any scorching heat, 17 because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and will guide them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.. . .

(Ecclesiastes 9:12) 12 For man does not know his time. Just as fish are caught in an evil net and birds are caught in a trap, so the sons of men are ensnared in a time of disaster, when it suddenly overtakes them.

(James 4:13-5:8) 13 Come, now, you who say: “Today or tomorrow we will travel to this city and will spend a year there, and we will do business and make some profit,” 14 whereas you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. 15 Instead, you should say: “If Jehovah wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But now you take pride in your arrogant boasting. All such boasting is wicked. 17 Therefore, if someone knows how to do what is right and yet does not do it, it is a sin for him. 5 Come, now, you rich men, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted away, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh. What you have stored up will be like a fire in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you have withheld from the workers who harvested your fields keep crying out, and the cries for help of the reapers have reached the ears of Jehovah of armies. 5 You have lived in luxury and for self-gratification on the earth. You have fattened your hearts on the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one. Is he not opposing you? 7 Be patient then, brothers, until the presence of the Lord. Look! The farmer keeps waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, exercising patience over it until the early rain and the late rain arrive. 8 You too exercise patience; make your hearts firm, because the presence of the Lord has drawn close.

(Isaiah 11:4-9)  4 He will judge the lowly with fairness, And with uprightness he will give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth And put the wicked to death with the breath of his lips.  5 Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, And faithfulness the belt of his hips.  6 The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them.  7 The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull.  8 The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake.  9 They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah. . .

(2 Peter 3:11-13) 11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, 12 as you await and keep close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens will be destroyed in flames and the elements will melt in the intense heat! 13 But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.

(Revelation 2:10, 11) 10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. Look! The Devil will keep on throwing some of you into prison so that you may be fully put to the test, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Prove yourself faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations: The one who conquers will by no means be harmed by the second death.’

(Revelation 20:12-21:4) 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. The dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the Grave gave up the dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. 14 And death and the Grave were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. 15 Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire. 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(Revelation 21:7, 8) 7 Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and the sexually immoral and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This means the second death.. . .

(Revelation 20:10) 10 And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

(Jude 14-21) 14 Yes, the seventh one in line from Adam, Eʹnoch, also prophesied about them when he said: “Look! Jehovah came with his holy myriads 15 to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly concerning all their ungodly deeds that they did in an ungodly way, and concerning all the shocking things that ungodly sinners spoke against him.” 16 These men are murmurers, complainers about their lot in life, following their own desires, and their mouths make grandiose boasts, while they are flattering others for their own benefit. 17 As for you, beloved ones, call to mind the sayings that have been previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 how they used to say to you: “In the last time there will be ridiculers, following their own desires for ungodly things.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, animalistic men, not having spirituality. 20 But you, beloved ones, build yourselves up on your most holy faith, and pray with holy spirit, 21 in order to keep yourselves in God’s love, while you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ with everlasting life in view.

(Isaiah 55:7-9)  7 Let the wicked man leave his way And the evil man his thoughts; Let him return to Jehovah, who will have mercy on him, To our God, for he will forgive in a large way.  8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, And your ways are not my ways,” declares Jehovah.  9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So my ways are higher than your ways And my thoughts than your thoughts.

(Hebrews 8:10-13) 10 “‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ says Jehovah. ‘I will put my laws in their mind, and in their hearts I will write them. And I will become their God, and they will become my people. 11 “‘And they will no longer teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying: “Know Jehovah!” For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful toward their unrighteous deeds, and I will no longer call their sins to mind.’” 13 In his saying “a new covenant,” he has made the former one obsolete. Now what is obsolete and growing old is near to vanishing away.

(2 Peter 3:8-10) 8 However, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. 9 Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance. 10 But Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be exposed.

(Romans 2:3-8) 3 But do you suppose, O man, that while you judge those who practice such things and yet you do them, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, because you do not know that God in his kindness is trying to lead you to repentance? 5 But according to your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revealing of God’s righteous judgment. 6 And he will pay back to each one according to his works: 7 everlasting life to those who are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibleness by endurance in work that is good; 8 however, for those who are contentious and who disobey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and anger.

(Matthew 7:13-23) 13 “Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; 14 whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it. 15 “Be on the watch for the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 17 Likewise, every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. 19 Every tree not producing fine fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men. 21 “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. 22 Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’

(1 Corinthians 15:26-28) 26 And the last enemy, death, is to be brought to nothing. 27 For God “subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that this does not include the One who subjected all things to him. 28 But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.

(Isaiah 25:8, 9)  8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will wipe away the tears from all faces. The reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, For Jehovah himself has spoken it.  9 In that day they will say: “Look! This is our God! We have hoped in him, And he will save us. This is Jehovah! We have hoped in him. Let us be joyful and rejoice in the salvation by him.”

(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12) 9 But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders 10 and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. 11 That is why God lets a deluding influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, 12 in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.

(Hebrews 10:35-39) 35 Therefore, do not throw away your boldness, which will be richly rewarded. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the fulfillment of the promise. 37 For yet “a very little while,” and “the one who is coming will arrive and will not delay.” 38 “But my righteous one will live by reason of faith,” and “if he shrinks back, I have no pleasure in him.” 39 Now we are not the sort who shrink back to destruction, but the sort who have faith for the preserving of our lives.

(Ezekiel 33:10, 11) . . .’ 11 Tell them, ‘“As surely as I am alive,” declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that someone wicked changes his way and keeps living. Turn back, turn back from your bad ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel?”’

(1 Timothy 2:2-6) . . .. 3 This is fine and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, God, 4 whose will is that all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all—this is what is to be witnessed to in its own due time.

(Genesis 19:16, 17) . . .. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them to the outskirts, he said: “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you and do not stand still in any part of the district! Escape to the mountainous region so that you may not be swept away. . .

(Genesis 19:23-26) 23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot arrived at Zoʹar. 24 Then Jehovah made it rain sulfur and fire on Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah—it came from Jehovah, from the heavens. 25 So he overthrew these cities, yes, the entire district, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the plants of the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, who was behind him, began to look back, and she became a pillar of salt.

(Genesis 18:22-28) 22 Then the men left from there and went toward Sodʹom, but Jehovah remained with Abraham. 23 Then Abraham approached and said: “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are 50 righteous men within the city. Will you, then, sweep them away and not pardon the place for the sake of the 50 righteous who are inside it? 25 It is unthinkable that you would act in this manner by putting the righteous man to death with the wicked one so that the outcome for the righteous man and the wicked is the same! It is unthinkable of you. Will the Judge of all the earth not do what is right?” 26 Then Jehovah said: “If I find in Sodʹom 50 righteous men in the city, I will pardon the whole place for their sake.” 27 But Abraham again responded: “Please, here I have presumed to speak to Jehovah, whereas I am dust and ashes. 28 Suppose the 50 righteous should lack five. Because of the five will you destroy the whole city?” To this he said: “I will not destroy it if I find there 45.”

(Genesis 19:12-17) 12 Then the men said to Lot: “Do you have anyone else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and all your people in the city, bring out of this place! 13 For we are going to destroy this place, because the outcry against them has indeed grown great before Jehovah, so that Jehovah sent us to destroy the city.” 14 So Lot went out and began to speak to his sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters, and he kept saying: “Get up! Get out of this place, because Jehovah will destroy the city!” But to his sons-in-law, he seemed to be joking. 15 As dawn was breaking, the angels became urgent with Lot, saying: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here with you, so that you will not be swept away in the error of the city!” 16 When he kept lingering, then because of Jehovah’s compassion for him, the men seized hold of his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, and they brought him out and stationed him outside the city. 17 As soon as they had brought them to the outskirts, he said: “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you and do not stand still in any part of the district! Escape to the mountainous region so that you may not be swept away!”

(Matthew 21:42, 43) 42 Jesus said to them: “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone that the builders rejected, this has become the chief cornerstone. This has come from Jehovah, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 This is why I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits.

(Ecclesiastes 8:11-13) . . .. 12 Although a sinner may do bad a hundred times and still live a long time, yet I am aware that it will turn out well for those who fear the true God, because they fear him. 13 But it will not turn out well for the wicked one, nor will he prolong his days that are like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

(2 Peter 3:5-7) 5 For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; 6 and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. 7 But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.

(Zephaniah 1:14-18) 14 The great day of Jehovah is near! It is near and it is approaching very quickly! The sound of the day of Jehovah is bitter. There a warrior cries out. 15 That day is a day of fury, A day of distress and anguish, A day of storm and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick gloom, 16 A day of the horn and of the battle cry, Against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers. 17 I will cause distress to mankind, And they will walk like blind men, Because it is against Jehovah they have sinned. Their blood will be poured out like dust, And their flesh like the dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Jehovah’s fury; For by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be consumed, Because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

(Psalm 91:4) 4 With his pinions he will cover you, And under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness will be a large shield and a protective wall.

(2 Peter 3:3-7) 3 First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires 4 and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.” 5 For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; 6 and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. 7 But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.

(Habakkuk 1:5)  5 “Look among the nations and pay attention! Stare in amazement and be astounded; For something will happen in your days That you will not believe even if it is told to you. . .

(Habakkuk 2:3) 3 For the vision is yet for its appointed time, And it is rushing toward its end, and it will not lie. Even if it should delay, keep in expectation of it! For it will without fail come true. It will not be late!

(Isaiah 5:19) Those who say: “Let Him speed up his work; Let it come quickly that we may see it. Let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel take place That we may know it!”

(2 Peter 3:4) and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.”

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

(Acts 3:19-26) 19 “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, so that seasons of refreshing may come from Jehovah himself 20 and he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. 21 Heaven must hold this one within itself until the times of restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old. 22 In fact, Moses said: ‘Jehovah your God will raise up for you from among your brothers a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. 23 Indeed, anyone who does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people.’ 24 And all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed him, as many as have spoken, have also plainly declared these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your forefathers, saying to Abraham: ‘And by means of your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ 26 God, after raising up his Servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning each one of you away from your wicked deeds.”

Scriptures indicating we are in the final minutes of this system and that we should be alert and ready to flee.

Matthew 24:3-14

2 Timothy 3:1-8

Luke 21:11

Daniel 12:4 there would be a clearer understanding of God’s prophecy by those being called by God.

Matthew 24:37-39, 2 Peter 3:3,4 , Luke 17:28-30 Wide spread apathy about the times we are in and how critical they are.

Mathew 24:33 when you see all these things occurring.

Revelation 12:7-12 Satan cast out of heaven so things would get much much worse.

Luke 17:28-30 , Jude 17 most would ignore the warnings of the signs just as in Noah’s day.

Revelation 11:18 man would ruin the earth.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 , Isaiah 29:13-15 , Matthew 24:5 , 1 John 2:18 , Jude 11, Amos 8:11,12, 2 Timothy 4:3-4 there is one truth. The great apostasy would be revealed showing why there are so many religious sects. They would put tradition and commands of man over those of God. We were warned the great apostasy would come first. False worship would be exposed and it would become clearer who truly follows Christ and who is part of the great apostasy.

Isaiah 2:17 man would see more glory in those who desire to seize power and wealth then in doing what is right. They would pretty much say what is bad is good and what is good is bad.

Matthew 24:14 message of the heavenly kingdom would be preached in all the earth.

Pursuing Peace.

Jesus left love guide all he did, he was the perfect reflection of our heavenly father because he imitated what he saw his father do. We are told in the bible we are to imitate Jesus and how he walked. Jesus pursued peace.

(1 Timothy 1:5) Really the objective of this mandate is love out of a clean heart and out of a good conscience and out of faith without hypocrisy.

(James 3:17) But the wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits, not making partial distinctions, not hypocritical

(John 5:19) ¹⁹ Therefore, in answer, Jesus went on to say to them: “Most truly I say to YOU, The Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing. For whatever things that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

(John 5:30) I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative; just as I hear, I judge; and the judgment that I render is righteous, because I seek, not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Even though Jesus knew he would be king in heaven he did not become high minded. He taught the apostles to be the same way. He is the great teacher and we are to imitate him.

(Romans 12:3-16) ³ For through the undeserved kindness given to me I tell everyone there among YOU not to think more of himself than it is necessary to think; but to think so as to have a sound mind, each one as God has distributed to him a measure of faith. ⁴ For just as we have in one body many members, but the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, although many, are one body in union with Christ, but members belonging individually to one another. ⁶ Since, then, we have gifts differing according to the undeserved kindness given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the faith proportioned [to us]; ⁷ or a ministry, [let us be] at this ministry; or he that teaches, [let him be] at his teaching; ⁸ or he that exhorts, [let him be] at his exhortation; he that distributes, [let him do it] with liberality; he that presides, [let him do it] in real earnest; he that shows mercy, [let him do it] with cheerfulness. ⁹ Let [YOUR] love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is wicked, cling to what is good. ¹⁰ In brotherly love have tender affection for one another. In showing honor to one another take the lead. ¹¹ Do not loiter at YOUR business. Be aglow with the spirit. Slave for Jehovah. ¹² Rejoice in the hope. Endure under tribulation. Persevere in prayer. ¹³ Share with the holy ones according to their needs. Follow the course of hospitality. ¹⁴ Keep on blessing those who persecute; be blessing and do not be cursing. ¹⁵ Rejoice with people who rejoice; weep with people who weep. ¹⁶ Be minded the same way toward others as to yourselves; do not be minding lofty things, but be led along with the lowly things. Do not become discreet in YOUR own eyes.

If we become over confident it can cause us to fall short. We have many examples of those in the bible who thought to much of themselves and would either try and put themselves in a position they were not ready for and Jehovah had not assigned them this caused them to stumble and often times they caused others to fall short. Ko’rah was an example we were given of the bible of what can happen if we become over confident and let arrogance creep in. It didn’t only cost him his life but it cost the lives of many others.

(Proverbs 16:18) Pride is before a crash, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

(Numbers 16:1-3) 16 And Ko′rah the son of Iz′har, the son of Ko′hath, the son of Le′vi, proceeded to get up, together with Da′than and A·bi′ram the sons of E·li′ab, and On the son of Pe′leth, the sons of Reu′ben. ² And they proceeded to rise up before Moses, they and two hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, chieftains of the assembly, summoned ones of the meeting, men of fame. ³ So they congregated themselves against Moses and Aaron and said to them: “That is enough of YOU, because the whole assembly are all of them holy and Jehovah is in their midst. Why, then, should YOU lift yourselves up above the congregation of Jehovah?”

(Numbers 16:31-35) ³¹ And it came about that as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them began to be split apart. ³² And the earth proceeded to open its mouth and to swallow up them and their households and all humankind that belonged to Ko′rah and all the goods. ³³ So down they went, and all who belonged to them, alive into She′ol, and the earth went covering them over, so that they perished from the midst of the congregation. ³⁴ And all the Israelites who were round about them fled at the screaming of them, for they began to say: “We are afraid that the earth may swallow us up!” ³⁵ And a fire came out from Jehovah and proceeded to consume the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense. . .

Jesus set the perfect example. Though he was to be our king in heaven he still remained humble towards others and set the example of how we should be. We should not view ourselves as more then someone else or as superior. Servants wash the feet of others and were viewed as being less then others. This did not stop Jesus from washing the feet of the apostles. Jesus was well aware of each of the apostles short comings, this did not prevent him from being humble towards them and treating them with respect. He could have easily tore them apart by looking at their short comings and constantly pointing them out. He did not he would give them parables or remind them of God’s word. He did not constantly attack and accuse them. He saw what they were becoming not what they are. He knew the things they would eventually do because he could read their hearts. We cannot read peoples hearts so we should not be judging them and trying to find their sins but we should be encouraging them and using God’s word to guide them and build them up spiritually. We should also set the example for others showing them the way by imitating Jesus humility.

(John 13:1-17) 13 Now, because he knew before the festival of the passover that his hour had come for him to move out of this world to the Father, Jesus, having loved his own that were in the world, loved them to the end. ² So, while the evening meal was going on, the Devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Is·car′i·ot, the son of Simon, to betray him, ³ he, knowing that the Father had given all things into [his] hands and that he came forth from God and was going to God, ⁴ got up from the evening meal and laid aside his outer garments. And, taking a towel, he girded himself. ⁵ After that he put water into a basin and started to wash the feet of the disciples and to dry them off with the towel with which he was girded. ⁶ And so he came to Simon Peter. He said to him: “Lord, are you washing my feet?” ⁷ In answer Jesus said to him: “What I am doing you do not understand at present, but you will understand after these things.” ⁸ Peter said to him: “You will certainly never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to him: “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him: “He that has bathed does not need to have more than his feet washed, but is wholly clean. And YOU men are clean, but not all.” ¹¹ He knew, indeed, the man betraying him. This is why he said: “Not all of YOU are clean.” ¹² When, now, he had washed their feet and had put his outer garments on and laid himself down at the table again, he said to them: “Do YOU know what I have done to YOU? ¹³ YOU address me, ‘Teacher,’ and, ‘Lord,’ and YOU speak rightly, for I am such. ¹⁴ Therefore, if I, although Lord and Teacher, washed YOUR feet, YOU also ought to wash the feet of one another. ¹⁵ For I set the pattern for YOU, that, just as I did to YOU, YOU should do also. ¹⁶ Most truly I say to YOU, A slave is not greater than his master, nor is one that is sent forth greater than the one that sent him. ¹⁷ If YOU know these things, happy YOU are if YOU do them. . .

So to avoid thinking more of ourselves then we should we need to view others as superior and not focus constantly on our own interest but to take interest in others and on how we could help them. Egotism is when we have an undue sense of self importance. Many in the bible when they became rulers fell short because they left the authority go to their heads and started thinking more of themselves then they should have. Some even took it to the point they wanted people to worship them.

(Philippians 2:1-4) 2 If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any sharing of spirit, if any tender affections and compassions, ² make my joy full in that YOU are of the same mind and have the same love, being joined together in soul, holding the one thought in mind, ³ doing nothing out of contentiousness or out of egotism, but with lowliness of mind considering that the others are superior to YOU, ⁴ keeping an eye, not in personal interest upon just YOUR own matters, but also in personal interest upon those of the others. . .

(Galatians 5:26-6:1) ²⁶ Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another. 6 Brothers, even though a man takes some false step before he is aware of it, YOU who have spiritual qualifications try to readjust such a man in a spirit of mildness, as you each keep an eye on yourself.

We all fall short and have imperfections we have to work on. If we start viewing ourselves as being more righteous we could become blind to our own imperfections and believe we cannot fall. We have the example of Peter when he became over confident in his spirituality. We know Peter ovecame this because he went on to make many disciples.

(James 3:2-4) ² For we all stumble many times. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle also [his] whole body. ³ If we put bridles in the mouths of horses for them to obey us, we manage also their whole body. ⁴ Look! Even boats, although they are so big and are driven by hard winds, are steered by a very small rudder to where the inclination of the man at the helm wishes.

(Luke 22:33, 34) ³³ Then he said to him: “Lord, I am ready to go with you both into prison and into death.” ³⁴ But he said: “I tell you, Peter, A cock will not crow today until you have three times denied knowing me.”

(Luke 22:55-60) . . .When they lit a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting in among them. ⁵⁶ But a certain servant girl saw him sitting by the bright fire and looked him over and said: “This man also was with him.” ⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying: “I do not know him, woman.” ⁵⁸ And after a short time another person seeing him said: “You also are one of them.” But Peter said: “Man, I am not.” ⁵⁹ And after about an hour intervened a certain other [man] began insisting strongly: “For a certainty this [man] also was with him; for, in fact, he is a Gal·i·le′an!” ⁶⁰ But Peter said: “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” And instantly, while he was yet speaking, a cock crowed. . .

If we are constantly looking for what is wrong in others we start judging them. How we judge is how we will be judged so if we nit pick at people we are viewing ourselves as being better then them and we are judging them.

(Matthew 7:1-3) 7 “Stop judging that YOU may not be judged; ² for with what judgment YOU are judging, YOU will be judged; and with the measure that YOU are measuring out, they will measure out to YOU. ³ Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the rafter in your own eye?

We know we will be under constant attack. We know if we are truly following Jesus footsteps we will be treated as he was. We must imitate him and not attack others and bring ourselves to their levels but set the example by remaining humble. By maintaining our integrity and humility we prove who we are to God and we give God glory.

(Matthew 5:11-16) ¹¹ “Happy are YOU when people reproach YOU and persecute YOU and lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against YOU for my sake. ¹² Rejoice and leap for joy, since YOUR reward is great in the heavens; for in that way they persecuted the prophets prior to YOU. ¹³ “YOU are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its strength, how will its saltness be restored? It is no longer usable for anything but to be thrown outside to be trampled on by men. ¹⁴ “YOU are the light of the world. A city cannot be hid when situated upon a mountain. ¹⁵ People light a lamp and set it, not under the measuring basket, but upon the lampstand, and it shines upon all those in the house. ¹⁶ Likewise let YOUR light shine before men, that they may see YOUR fine works and give glory to YOUR Father who is in the heavens.

(1 Peter 2:11, 12) . . .. ¹² Maintain YOUR conduct fine among the nations, that, in the thing in which they are speaking against YOU as evildoers, they may as a result of YOUR fine works of which they are eyewitnesses glorify God in the day for [his] inspection. . .

We want to practice what we teach so we do not smear God’s good name. If we teach others about God yet we are unreasonable and contentious what kind of message are we really sending?

(Romans 2:17-24) ¹⁷ If, now, you are a Jew in name and are resting upon law and taking pride in God, ¹⁸ and you know his will and approve of things that are excellent because you are orally instructed out of the Law; ¹⁹ and you are persuaded that you are a guide of the blind, a light for those in darkness, ²⁰ a corrector of the unreasonable ones, a teacher of babes, and having the framework of the knowledge and of the truth in the Law— ²¹ do you, however, the one teaching someone else, not teach yourself? You, the one preaching “Do not steal,” do you steal? ²² You, the one saying “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You, the one expressing abhorrence of the idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You, who take pride in law, do you by your transgressing of the Law dishonor God? ²⁴ For “the name of God is being blasphemed on account of YOU people among the nations”; just as it is written.

We are to be reasonable and peaceable with all and we are to speak injuriously of no one.

(Titus 3:2) to speak injuriously of no one, not to be belligerent, to be reasonable, exhibiting all mildness toward all men.

(James 3:17) But the wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits, not making partial distinctions, not hypocritical.

We are to seek and pursue peace. So all we do we should do in a way to promote peace. We are not only required to purse peace we are to make peace.

(James 3:17, 18) . . .. ¹⁸ Moreover, the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace. . .

(Matthew 5:9) “Happy are the peaceable, since they will be called ‘sons of God.’

(1 Peter 3:11) but let him turn away from what is bad and do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

Even if someone is not yet in the truth, our example may some day draw them to the truth. If it does not we have shown God how much we value peace and we have proven ourselves to God. We have to keep in mind we are all imperfect and others also have to deal with our imperfections just as much as we do theirs.

(Ephesians 4:1-6) 4 I, therefore, the prisoner in [the] Lord, entreat YOU to walk worthily of the calling with which YOU were called, ² with complete lowliness of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love, ³ earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. ⁴ One body there is, and one spirit, even as YOU were called in the one hope to which YOU were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all [persons], who is over all and through all and in all.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7) ⁴ Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, ⁵ does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. ⁶ It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

If we are struggling with this we need to ask God to send the spirit to help us.

(Luke 11:9-13) . . .. ¹⁰ For everyone asking receives, and everyone seeking finds, and to everyone knocking it will be opened. ¹¹ Indeed, which father is there among YOU who, if his son asks for a fish, will perhaps hand him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he also asks for an egg, will hand him a scorpion? ¹³ Therefore, if YOU, although being wicked, know how to give good gifts to YOUR children, how much more so will the Father in heaven give holy spirit to those asking him!”

(Galatians 5:22-24) ²² On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³ mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus impaled the flesh together with its passions and desires. . .

As mentioned earlier by imitating Christ it give us peace of mind. We do not become overwhelmed with things and do not put ourselves on Christ thrown which we are not qualified to do. He rightfully earned the thrown and there is not better king. By judging other we are putting ourselves in a position we do not rightfully have. Just as people spoke abusively of Christ we also must follow his example and patiently endure it.

(Matthew 27:38-44) . . .. ³⁹ So the passersby began speaking abusively of him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying: “O you would-be thrower-down of the temple and builder of it in three days, save yourself! If you are a son of God, come down off the torture stake!” ⁴¹ In like manner also the chief priests with the scribes and older men began making fun of him and saying: ⁴² “Others he saved; himself he cannot save! He is King of Israel; let him now come down off the torture stake and we will believe on him. ⁴³ He has put his trust in God; let Him now rescue him if He wants him, for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way even the robbers that were impaled together with him began reproaching him. . .

(Hebrews 12:1-3) 12 So, then, because we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also put off every weight and the sin that easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² as we look intently at the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus. For the joy that was set before him he endured a torture stake, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Indeed, consider closely the one who has endured such contrary talk by sinners against their own interests, that YOU may not get tired and give out in YOUR souls. . .

We need to follow Jesus example and pray for them.

(Luke 23:33, 34) . . .And when they got to the place called Skull, there they impaled him and the evildoers, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ [[But Jesus was saying: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”]]. . .

Stephen followed Jesus example. This resulted in Paul who did some awful things towards the disciples of Christ to eventually become a leader as a teacher of the truth.

(Acts 7:58-60) ⁵⁸ And after throwing him outside the city, they began casting stones at him. And the witnesses laid down their outer garments at the feet of a young man called Saul. ⁵⁹ And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then, bending his knees, he cried out with a strong voice: “Jehovah, do not charge this sin against them.” And after saying this he fell asleep [in death].

In doing so we give no one a valid reason to speak abusively or ill of us.

(1 Timothy 4:12) ¹² Let no man ever look down on your youth. On the contrary, become an example to the faithful ones in speaking, in conduct, in love, in faith, in chasteness. . .

(Titus 2:15) Keep on speaking these things and exhorting and reproving with full authority to command. Let no man ever despise you.

We know judgment is very near, when it starts we will no longer be able to teach. We need to seize the opportunity while we can.

(2 Timothy 4:1-3) 4 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is destined to judge the living and the dead, and by his manifestation and his kingdom, ² preach the word, be at it urgently in favorable season, in troublesome season, reprove, reprimand, exhort, with all long-suffering and [art of] teaching. ³ For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching. . .

Though we are to be peaceable with all we are still to be cautious who we associate with.

(2 John 8-11) ⁸ Look out for yourselves, that YOU do not lose the things we have worked to produce, but that YOU may obtain a full reward. ⁹ Everyone that pushes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God. He that does remain in this teaching is the one that has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to YOU and does not bring this teaching, never receive him into YOUR homes or say a greeting to him. ¹¹ For he that says a greeting to him is a sharer in his wicked works. . .

We need to practice these things and build our faith keeping in mind what is about to occurs is a sign this system has ended and the new is near. It may be a fearful time but our God will be there for us. We have to keep in mind it is not us they are attacking when we are doing God’s will but it is against God that they fight.

(Matthew 10:16-23) ¹⁶ “Look! I am sending YOU forth as sheep amidst wolves; therefore prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Be on YOUR guard against men; for they will deliver YOU up to local courts, and they will scourge YOU in their synagogues. ¹⁸ Why, YOU will be haled before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations. ¹⁹ However, when they deliver YOU up, do not become anxious about how or what YOU are to speak; for what YOU are to speak will be given YOU in that hour; ²⁰ for the ones speaking are not just YOU, but it is the spirit of YOUR Father that speaks by YOU. ²¹ Further, brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and will have them put to death. ²² And YOU will be objects of hatred by all people on account of my name; but he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved. ²³ When they persecute YOU in one city, flee to another; for truly I say to YOU, YOU will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives. . .

The news of the heavenly kingdom has been preached throughout the earth so we know the end is near.

(Matthew 24:14) ¹⁴ And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come. . .

Those who endure to the end will see the new system and it will be will worth it because it will be a kingdom that will not be done away with.

(Revelation 21:1-4) 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. ² I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away. . .

We need to be patient more now then ever before and do our best to remain blameless.

(James 5:8) . . .YOU too exercise patience; make YOUR hearts firm, because the presence of the Lord has drawn close. . .

(1 Thessalonians 3:11-13) ¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way prosperously to YOU. ¹² Moreover, may the Lord cause YOU to increase, yes, make YOU abound, in love to one another and to all, even as we also do to YOU; ¹³ to the end that he may make YOUR hearts firm, unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the presence of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. . .

We know salvation is near and our king will be given the command very soon. While we wait the bible tells us let our reasonableness be known to all.

(Philippians 4:4, 5) ⁴ Always rejoice in [the] Lord. Once more I will say, Rejoice! ⁵ Let YOUR reasonableness become known to all men. The Lord is near. . .

We have to keep in mind Jesus did not always answer when questioned. He knew who was behind the questions and what the motives were for the questions and that no matter how he answered they would lie and use his words against him. So if we are in a similar situations it may be better not to give an answer.

(Matthew 27:11-14) ¹¹ Jesus now stood before the governor; and the governor put the question to him: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied: “You yourself say [it].” ¹² But, while he was being accused by the chief priests and older men, he made no answer. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him: “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” ¹⁴ Yet he did not answer him, no, not a word, so that the governor wondered very much. . .

Jesus was righteous and did not sin but suffered as a sinner for our sins. This should make us appreciate the ransom sacrifice even more and drive us that much more to imitate him. In doing so he provided the only ransom that could be accepted by God. Sin came into the world through one man perfect man so it had to be removed by a perfect man.

(Isaiah 53:5-9) . . .But he was being pierced for our transgression; he was being crushed for our errors. The chastisement meant for our peace was upon him, and because of his wounds there has been a healing for us. ⁶ Like sheep we have all of us wandered about; it was each one to his own way that we have turned; and Jehovah himself has caused the error of us all to meet up with that one. ⁷ He was hard pressed, and he was letting himself be afflicted; yet he would not open his mouth. He was being brought just like a sheep to the slaughtering; and like a ewe that before her shearers has become mute, he also would not open his mouth. ⁸ Because of restraint and of judgment he was taken away; and who will concern himself even with [the details of] his generation? For he was severed from the land of the living ones. Because of the transgression of my people he had the stroke. ⁹ And he will make his burial place even with the wicked ones, and with the rich class in his death, despite the fact that he had done no violence and there was no deception in his mouth. . .

(1 Peter 2:21-25) ²¹ In fact, to this [course] YOU were called, because even Christ suffered for YOU, leaving YOU a model for YOU to follow his steps closely. ²² He committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth. ²³ When he was being reviled, he did not go reviling in return. When he was suffering, he did not go threatening, but kept on committing himself to the one who judges righteously. ²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his own body upon the stake, in order that we might be done with sins and live to righteousness. And “by his stripes YOU were healed.” ²⁵ For YOU were like sheep, going astray; but now YOU have returned to the shepherd and overseer of YOUR souls. . .

Time frame we are in , in reference to the end of this system of things.

This is not finished I am doing it to show the time frame we are in. We need to compare our time to times past when God brought destruction on peoples. As I was trying to do this many things come up so I had to put it together quickly. Those who remain silent and said nothing for the down trodden and would not speak up for them will also be held accountable. Their lack of concern reveals a lot about their heart condition to Jehovah.

It seems things are nearing this now. Countries that were enemies are starting to be allies.

1 Thessolonians 5:1Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

One of the final acts of rebellion man will hand their authority over to the United Nations all nations will bend to the U.N.s will. So will false religions and they will attack true worship.

Matthew 24:15“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Things that have brought others to destruction. This keys us into the time frame we are in concerning the destruction of this system.

They would look down on the poor and take advantage of them. They would offer no help to those in need but would be critical of them. While some starved others would be glutinous. It would be like the days of Noah violence would be rampant.

Ezekial 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.

Genesis 6:13

Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Deuteronomy 710 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.

11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

Deuteronomy 7:26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Not following God’s guidance on appointing spiritual leaders would result in true worship being corrupted. That is why it was prophesied true worship would have to be restored in our time.

1 Kings 13 33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.

We have done our best to speak for those who are struggling. We can sleep at night knowing we have warned our neighbors and have spoken up for the down trodden.

Proverbs 31:8 ESV

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.

We are seeing this occur now, the corruptions is becoming clearer and clearer. The inability of man to be able to exist without God’s guidance is becoming clearer and clearer.

Philippians 3:19 ESV

Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

2 Peter 3:10 ESV

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

It is why we are told the way is hard, just as it was for the apostles. We were not promised it would be easy.

Jesus is the narrow gate but few would choose to walk in his foot steps because he did not choose wealth and material things over spiritual things. He always put God’s will first. We see how there is a great delusion now and people believe wealth is a sign of approval by God. If that were true then how could pursuit of wealth be following Jesus foot steps?

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Matthew 24:9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

1 Corinthians 15:20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For he “has put everything under his feet.”c Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Many who believe they do not have to worry will be among those who are destroyed. They lack the courage to speak up for what is right. They do not warn others or tell them God’s name or tell them about our king Jesus and the heavenly kingdom. They may fear what others thing, or fear what will happen if they do. God does not except cowardice as an excuse.

Revelation 21:8 ESV

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The reward is worth it and it is eternal. This is all temporary.

Revelation 21:1-27 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” …

Isaiah 2:1-22 ESV

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. …