Deception And the Beginnings of Sorrows :: By Dave Hubley

My brothers and sisters: We knew these days were coming, and I believe they are here.

Let me begin by pointing out a couple of important considerations, the first of which is becoming more evident with each passing day based on this very important verse in the book of Daniel:

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). [Emphasis mine]

1) It is the opinion of this author that much of what is happening at this time is serving to weave understanding and clarity of the fabric of the Word of God together stronger than ever, much like rip-stop fabric; however, rip-stop fabric can be punctured; the Word of God cannot.

Like a rapidly clearing fog bank, the realities of the Word of God are becoming clearer.

2) I believe that the evidence for understanding certain prophecies and that they are being fulfilled in more than one event is becoming more evident. Additionally, proof of a single statement by Jesus, rightly divided, that involves more than one period of time is also becoming easier to discern.

One of the more obvious examples of this resides in Luke 14:18-19, where Jesus opens the scroll of Isaiah and reads from it, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord….’ And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.”

What is important about this is that when He closed the book, He stopped in the middle of a sentence (now referred to as Isaiah 61:2.5) which continued, “and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” The beginning of this section proclaims His reason for coming into the world. The second, which He omitted at that time, is yet future when He will return as the Lion of Judah to execute judgment on an unbelieving and rebellious world. All this in ONE sentence!

Some similar examples below are in bold from Matthew 24:1-14 (context correlates with Mark 13:1-13; Luke 21:5-19).

“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’ (Literally fulfilled in AD70 with the Roman destruction of the temple)

The Beginning of Sorrows (I believe this period applies right up to the beginning of the Tribulation).

³ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?’

Very Important: Jesus was speaking to His Jewish brethren; however, He knew this prophecy would concern the church which was yet to be “born,” so it is another example of a prophecy spoken by the Lord knowing it would encompass the distant future (“and of the end of the world”) and that we would be reading it even up to the present time.

⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Take heed that no man deceive you. ⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ⁶ And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (Ongoing now. Every day is a constant cacophony of threats, implications of wars and rumors of wars, and indeed, actual conflicts abound, and with them, rumors of WWIII).

⁷ For nation shall rise against nation (Never has nation [ethnic group/race] rising up against each other been more intense than it is right now). Almost every conflict, disagreement, argument, event, situation, debate, confrontation, discussion, and yes, biased and slanted news article in the mainstream media gives rise to the word “racist” being applied, even in situations where it is utterly insane (ex: We have “racist highways!!)? Yes, that actually happened, spoken by a Democrat politician.

… and kingdom against kingdom (Kingdoms [countries] engaged in active conflict abound as well),

… and there shall be famines (Natural and man-made and soon to be much, much, worse),

… and pestilences (Natural and intentionally man-made and soon to be re-invigorated),

… and earthquakes, in divers [over wide areas] places (very frequent now).

⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

While some scoffers (although fewer of them in view of current events) might argue that these things have “always” been around (2 Peter 3:3-4), the weakness of their argument is rapidly becoming obvious.

The level, frequency and intensity are deniable only if one intentionally deceives themselves – and, yes, there are many people that fall into that trap of Satan. Deception can be internal as well as external.

⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. The disciples were Jews. Jesus knew that the church would soon be “born.” This dual fulfillment prophecy applies both to the Christ-ones (Christians) and Jews.

I believe that, as far as the church goes, verse 9 above will apply to the uncompromising, true, Christ-honoring and worshiping church. (This uncomfortable but obvious truth is becoming very evident in the rhetoric of the “world” today). Christians are being blamed for every ill of man.

¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

While this author is firmly planted in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture view, we do not know how difficult things will be allowed to get by our Lord. We need to make certain we do not succumb to verse 11 by diligent reading of the Word and setting our faces to COMPLETE TRUST in Him. Pray without ceasing for wisdom and discernment.

¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (This verse almost seems to be an understatement.) Look at the maniacal attempts to make child murder into [man-made] law and thus “legal,” both by abortion of living children and/or injecting them with horrid, gene-altering, DNA- altering chemicals). At least the animals that eat their own young have an excuse – they are animals.

¹³ But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:1-14).

I believe this [v13] applies to those who will be saved after the Rapture (see Revelation 7:9-14). They will indeed have to endure unto the end during those 7 years of hell on earth.

The Gospel is preached in almost all places in the world today, either by missionary preachers or through technology where peoples have access to satellite and internet and even in their own languages. (However, the Lord will guarantee that this prophecy will be fulfilled as a surety at the appointed time.)

“Then I saw another angel flying overhead, with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, And he said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of water’” (Revelation 14:6-7).

Deception.

1) “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12-13).

This verse above is directed at those who have come to faith and trust in Jesus Christ. It simply verifies that a cursory examination of today’s news (if you can stomach it) will be proof enough that deception is standard operational procedure for the mainstream media, whether by the sin of omission or outright lying by people who are themselves deceived.

Here I would warn my brothers and sisters that many of today’s “conservative” bloggers espouse views that are questionable or even VERY questionable. Many profess Christ, yet they do not believe Him.

BEWARE! Ask God for Wisdom and Discernment.

2) “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).

This verse seems to indicate that “the elect” (people who will come to salvation in Jesus Christ) can, in fact, be deceived. (This is NOT to say that they can or will lose their salvation.) I personally know Christian brothers and sisters that have been/can be very easily deceived. They have fallen prey to the deceiver and father of lies. I say this in all love and humility: BEWARE! WAKE UP! You can be deceived if you do not have situational awareness and total trust in the Living Truth – Jesus, on whom you depend. Ask God for Wisdom, Discernment and protection from the lies. Put on your armor!

3) “that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

This deals with events AFTER the anti-Christ is revealed. I believe these verses require very careful consideration in that they must be reconciled with Revelation 7:9-14:

“After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ Then one of the elders addressed me: ‘These in white robes,’ he asked, ‘who are they, and where have they come from?’ ‘Sir,’ I answered, ‘you know.’ So he replied, ‘These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’”

It is this writer’s OPINION that these verses indicate that there will be many saved after the Rapture of the church. They will not be included as the Bride of Christ, but it appears that many will be saved.

Let us understand that differences of opinion on these matters have no bearing on who will ultimately be saved, so they are not worth unnecessary vitriol and argument. God is Sovereign.

Now I come to the crux of this article:

• Are you already part of the forever family of God in Christ? Please consider the matters discussed in the article and pray and act accordingly. Pray diligently for the unsaved to see the Light.
• Are you unsaved? If you are seeking answers to the chaos around you, you can have them. You must first come to God on His terms. If you do that, then He will open your eyes to the truth.

And, what are His terms according to His Word?

• Genuine repentance (turning to God instead of continuing to reject or ignore Him)
  Confession of sins (that you are a sinner and acknowledge that to God)
  Belief that Jesus Christ paid your death sentence for you on the cross
  To acknowledge to God that you are unable to pay that debt
  To believe that Jesus is the Way, the only Way, that God has established by which humans may be saved from the consequences of their sin and rebellion.

1) God has made it absolutely clear that there is no one who comes before Him under His terms that will be refused.

2) No one: no race, no color, no country of origin, regardless of any previous belief system: no one.

3) No matter what your past sins have been, God can and WILL forgive you because He says He will.

4) Salvation is available to everyone without any exceptions.

If you put all your trust for salvation in Jesus, and Him only, you can follow that prayer up by simply saying, “Thank you, Father God, for hearing my prayer and saving me,” because we can trust Him to keep His Word. He always has. He always will.

Then, the Spirit of God will guide you into all Truth (John 16:13).

John 5:24: “Truly, Truly, I say to you that he who hears my words and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed from death to life.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Pro Salvator Vigilans

To contact me: [email protected]

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