9 Oct 2023

Drugging up for Tribulation

One of the strongest indicators of the approach of the Tribulation can be found in looking at things going on today through the prism of the following Scripture:

“Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” (Revelation 9:21).

A single element is most often found at the center of these wicked activities today. The ignition point of these things God says people won’t repent of, seems to me, is wrapped up in the word “sorceries.”

The word “sorcery” is translated from the Greek pharmakeia (Strong’s G5331, KJV). The definition includes, as part of its scope of evil, the matter of witchcraft. It is used in God’s prophetic Word as reason for destruction of that city of global influence—the city and the worldwide system called “Babylon the Great”:

“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived” (Revelation 18:23).

The most profound evil of this great city and its global influence is found in the condemnation: “for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”

Can we agree that deception permeates every aspect of our society and culture today here in America? And can we agree that the fact that we derive the word for “drugs” from pharmakeia lends credence to the charge that this nation is at the center of the stage being set for the Tribulation to come?

Our borders have been leveraged fully open at our southernmost parts. The drugs are pouring through the openings by carriers, many of whom are drug cartel members involved in human trafficking and even trafficking of children for sexual wickedness.

Our nation, through an explosive illegal drug eruption, is deceiving the world with its transport capability to infuse many people with mind-altering drugs. Through America’s “sorceries,” “all nations [are] deceived.”

One writer of interest observed:

We are not now in the 7-year Tribulation Period. But again, many present-day developments are already setting the stage for Daniel’s 70th week. Cartoons, TV shows, movies, and books (ex: Harry Potter) are laying the foundation for a world deceived by the occult. Cannabis, ketamine, speed and other so-called “soft drugs” are becoming mainstream. The world is being conditioned to accept that which the Lord clearly forbids. This includes the widespread use of (experimental) drugs. (“The Rich and their Pharmakeia,” Thomas, R. L., 1995, Revelation 8–22: An Exegetical Commentary, Chicago: Moody Press)

Even more concerning than our nation infecting the entire world with our sorceries and all of the other evils Revelation warns will bring devastating judgment are the effects the drug madness is inflicting here at home:

A Fairfield father says that a federally funded health clinic operating within Lawrence High School provided his minor daughter with a baggy of prescription anti-depressants without his knowledge or consent.

When the girl’s father, Eric Sack, discovered the baggy of pills over the weekend, his daughter told him that it was provided to her by the Bulldog Health Center, a School-Based Health Center (SBHC) at Lawrence High School.

Sack saw the pills as an infringement on his parental rights, but he was also concerned that the school’s clinic sent unlabeled drugs with no child-resistant container into his home, where his two other younger children also live…

Sack pulled his daughter out of the public school this week to make her appointments with a doctor and a therapist.

“I’m looking out for the best interests of my daughter. That’s why I pulled her out of school,” said Sack. “Because I don’t think she really ought to be there if they’re going to start giving her pills, you know? Until I sit down with a doctor that I pick for my daughter, not through the school.”…

On Thursday, an agent from Child Protective Services (CPS) called Sack and informed him that he would be arriving shortly to make a surprise visit to his home to conduct a child welfare investigation…

“They called and said it was an emergency situation at my house, that I was pretty near holding my daughter hostage, is what the gentleman that came yesterday told me,” Sack said.

“He had information that only the school and Bulldog Health Center had,” he said.

For three hours, CPS Agent Dylan Wood grilled Sack and his family individually and as a group, including asking questions about Sack’s firearms and where he keeps them. (“Maine Dad Says High School Clinic Sent 17-Year-Old Daughter Home with Secret Baggy of Zoloft, Sicced Child Protective Services on Him for Complaining,” Steve Robinson, The Maine Wire, RR News, September 28, 2023)

The above deception by secretly sending this girl home with drugs is bad enough, but stories abound of fentanyl being made available in various forms, and that is the even deadlier form of evil being perpetrated by the drug lords. Thousands of young people and children are dying so the wicked merchants of earth can make their millions and even billions of dollars.

All of this is preparing the stage for the coming of Antichrist’s regime and all-out satanic assault upon the people left behind to go through that horrendous era called Daniel’s seventieth week and the Tribulation.

You don’t want to be here during the time Jesus said will be the worst of all human history. Here is how to avoid being trapped on this drug-saturated, judgment-bound planet when the Rapture occurs:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord Jesus Christ, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

                –Terry

We Are Homeward Bound 

The multiple signs that we are nearing midnight-point signify good news for weary saints. They tell us that we will be going home in the near future.

In the Upper Room, Jesus calmed the fears of this disciples with these words:

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3).

Though it may not be as soon as we would like, Jesus is surely coming to take us home to the place that He’s preparing especially for us. Colossians 3:4 affirms this glorious truth, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

At Jesus’ appearing, we don’t remain on the earth, but we will suddenly find ourselves in “glory” with our Savior. This aligns well with one of Jesus’ prayer requests to the Father, which He made a little while after promising to come get us.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).

On the very same night that the Lord promises to come for us and take us to His Father’s house, He prays for the opportunity to show all His followers the glory He possessed “before the foundation of the world.” Someday, hopefully soon, Jesus’ prayer request will become a reality as He catches us up to meet Him in the air and takes us home to paradise.

This is amazingly good news for us weary saints, for it tells us that . . .

1. He’s preparing a physical place for us. The Greek word for “place” in John 14:2-3 is topos, which denotes a physical location in almost all of its ninety-plus usages in the New Testament. Jesus is preparing actual rooms in His Father’s house for the multitudes of people who have come to know Him as their Savior since that evening. I believe these will be our forever homes in the glorious New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21.

The word Jesus chose for “prepare,” hetoimazo, depicts a tangible, visible preparation. Paul used this same term when asking Philemon to “prepare a lodging place” for him (Philemon 22). In Hebrews 11:16, the writer uses it in reference to the preparation of “a city” in reference to his promise to Abraham and Sarah of a future home.

Jesus will someday take us home, and it will be the most fulfilling and joyous place imaginable.

2. We will Inhabit our home with immortal bodies. Something that’s sadly overlooked in churches today is the fact that Jesus will give all His saints immortal and imperishable bodies when He appears (1 Corinthians 15:47-55; Philippians 3:21-22). We will have glorious bodies like His resurrected one, and we can be sure that our homes in paradise will be perfect accommodations for us.

The Lord gave us a glimpse of what our new bodies will be like when He appeared to His disciples after He rose from the dead. He emphasized that He was not a “spirit” or “ghost.” He invited them to touch Him and then ate in their presence (Luke 24:36-43).

Our future bodies will be tangible and physical but without any of the problems we have with our current ones. Aging and sickness will no longer exist, and we will experience perfect holiness, never to sin again.

3. Our forever home will never disappoint us. Though you might have surmised this from the previous points, it’s clear that our forever home in Heaven and our new bodies will never disappoint us.

Pay close attention to the words of Psalm 16:11:

“You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Is it not a bit difficult to imagine that God intends for our joy to be full and that we will enjoy “pleasures forevermore?” I confess that years ago, I couldn’t fully grasp this thought.

The disdain for physical pleasures among Christians started with Augustine and his fondness for many of the teachings of Plato. This pagan philosopher is famous for teaching that only the spirit realm is good and anything physical is evil. This unbiblical separation of the spirit and physical has had tragic consequences for the church ever since the time of Augustine and remains at the heart of many false teachings concerning the end times.

On page 410 of Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven, the author deals with this error:

Our belief that Heaven will be boring betrays a heresy—that God is boring. There’s no greater nonsense. Our desire for pleasure and the experience of joy come directly from God’s hand. He made our taste buds, adrenaline, sex drives, and the nerve endings that convey pleasure to our brains. Likewise, our imaginations and our capacity for joy and exhilaration were made by the very God we accuse of being boring. Are we so arrogant as to imagine that human beings came up with the idea of having fun?

During our time on earth, we experience trials as well as times of affliction, suffering, and loss. But for those of us who know Jesus, a day full of joy and delight is coming. It will begin as quickly as the “twinkling of an eye,” and we will find ourselves in paradise with beauty beyond our wildest imagination.

The time of our departure from the earth is ever so near; keep looking up.

-Jonathan

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