“SAYS WHO?”

​Remember that phrase?  Siblings arguing.  One kid says “I can do what I want!”, and the other sibling says, “Oh, yeah?  Says who?”

Now the argument gets serious.  In other words, the second sibling is saying, “On whose authority do you do these things?”

If the first kid says, “I say!”, then he carries only the weight of brute force or superior intellect.

But, if he or she says, “Dad said so!” then the first sibling has assumed a superior and credible position.  He or she is speaking from authority.

Incidentally, I was in a discussion with a friend and he said, “I believe we are close to the Rapture and we won’t have top see or endure much more of the troubles of this earth.”

I asked, “Isn’t that time called the Tribulation or the “Last Days”, or the “End of Days” or the “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord”?”

“Yes, it is”, my friend replied.

I responded with, “Oh, yeah.  And, when is that supposed to happen?”

My friend said, “You know, before the tribulation starts.”

I responded again, asking, “When is that?”

He looked at me quizzically and said, “Before the seven years of tribulation.”

I had to say it, “Oh, yeah?  Says who?  Who in the Bible says that?”

(I honestly could not help myself.  But, I know it had to be some pastor or Bible teacher who said what my friend is now saying.   My friend is just repeating some guy.)

​But, now the discussion began in earnest

​So I continued with, “I have it on good authority that The Apostle PETER SAYS, in Acts2:14  

“Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15“For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

​      17 ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says,
            ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND;
            AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY,
            AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS,
            AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;

      18 EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,
            I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT
            And they shall prophesy.

      19 ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE
            AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW,
            BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.

      20 ‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS
            AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD,
            BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.

      21 AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’

PETER GIVES THESE KEY POINTS:

And I continued with, “I have it on good authority that The Prophet JOEL SAYS, in Joel 2:1 

“Blow a trumpet in Zion,
            And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
            Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
            For the day of the LORD is coming;
            Surely it is near,

      2A day of darkness and gloom,
            A day of clouds and thick darkness.
            As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
            So there is a great and mighty people;
            There has never been anything like it,
            Nor will there be again after it
            To the years of many generations.

         28“It will come about after this
            That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
            And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
            Your old men will dream dreams,
            Your young men will see visions.

      29“Even on the male and female servants
            I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
            Blood, fire and columns of smoke.

      31“The sun will be turned into darkness
            And the moon into blood
            Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

      32“And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD
            Will be delivered;

JOEL GIVES THESE KEY POINTS:

And, I went on with, “I have it on good authority that The Apostle PAUL SAYS, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

PAUL GIVES THESE KEY POINTS:

And, I went on with, “I have it on good authority that The Apostle PAUL SAYS, in Hebrews1:1 

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,”

PAUL GIVES THESE KEY POINTS:

​And, I went on with, “I have it on good authority that JESUS SAYS, in  Matthew 24:4

     “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

      9“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13“But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

JESUS GIVE THESE KEY POINTS:

And, I went on with, I have it on good authority that JESUS SAYS, in Matthew24:15

“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),  21“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.”

JESUS GIVE THESE KEY POINTS:

I finished with, “AND I HAVE THIS ON GOOD AUTHORITY. “

​RECAP:

1. The Last Days, The End of Days, began in AD 1, according to the Apostle Peter. 
2. The Apostle Paul repeats the same thing as late as AD 62. 
3. The again the Last Days had begun as witnessed by Jesus remarks when referring to the first five Tribulation Seals, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
4. The world has suffered wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines and deaths from global plagues (Tribulation Seals 1 through 4) for many centuries. 
5. The Church is now undergoing a phenomenon of a worldwide Apostasy, the rejection of Christianity by someone who formerly was a Christian. The term apostasy means a departure, revolt or rebellion. It has been described as “a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christianity, which we see as churches, worldwide, have rejected the Bible and the final authority and twist scriptures of satisfy their own lust and their seared conscience. (the 5th Tribulation Seal).
6. Everything up to and including the Great Apostasy have occurred and is occurring. 
7. We are now waiting for the revealing of the “Man of Perdition”, also known as the antichrist, the one who stands in the Holy Place and commits the Abomination if Desolation.  And, once that occurs, the timing of events will accelerate wildly.
   1. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
   2. “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
   3. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
   4. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

We have to get this right because we have His Work to do until this has come to an end.  And standing around, looking skyward, waiting for the Rapture is a fatal mistake.  He is going to ask what we have done of which He told us to do.  By this we will know if we are His disciples

So, what do we need to be DOING until He Returns and takes us Home?  What does it mean “TO GET READY“?

Your Brother & Friend in Christ,

Mike Young