In Matthew 24:21,22 Jesus warns His followers that a time is coming when indescribable suffering will envelope the earth like nothing man can envision. The vast majority of earth’s population is not aware of this deadly phenomenon that will take the lives of two-thirds of mankind and will end only with the return of Jesus Christ to earth to establish His Father’s kingdom from whence the Godhead and Their Very Elect saints will rule, first the earth, then the universe. But between now and then much will happen, almost all of it negative. Jesus said few would obey Him between then and His return. The incredible irony is that all of the negative things the world’s inhabitants have experienced, are experiencing and will experience before His arrival could have been avoided. Read Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. God’s will is to bless mankind for obeying Him. Man’s will is to bless himself by obeying Satan. Read Matthew 16:23 to determine who controls those who disobey God, including 99% of church people. In First Peter 4:17,18 we are commanded to judge ourselves according to God’s Word. Only those scarce few in the church who do so will be saved upon Christ’s return. If, that is, we can take Him at His Word.

Jesus warns church people who desire to spend eternity with Him but refuse to obey Him: “For then there will come great tribulation like nothing the world has seen from her beginning until this time. There will never again be anything like it. And if that time should not be shortened, there would be no flesh saved alive. But for the sake of the ELECT (obedient) the number of those days will be reduced.” As Jesus said, only a supernatural intervention will prevent every soul on earth from dying during the coming Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord. Read the series on this subject using the key word–Tribulation.

Jesus said that the time of terror, death and destruction will be shortened “for the elect’s sake.” The elect, also called the Very Elect, are those who, throughout their converted lives, believed and obeyed His Holy Scriptures. But their obedience is not the end of their responsibility. Everything involved in this series is being made known by a tiny group of true believers as they proclaim His message throughout the world. These chosen ministers are, as they are commanded to do, “shouting it (God’s Truth) from the housetops” (Mat. 10:27/ Lk. 12:3) through every venue available. This is in keeping with Christ’s words found in Matthew 24:14,15 where He said that His Gospel (the good news about the coming Kingdom of God) would be proclaimed throughout the entire world. Why? So that the obedient ones will see it coming and prepare for it through holy living. Only the Very Elect (ministers and their disciples) will be ready for what will soon descend upon the earth, for only they will have studied God’s Word, believed it and obeyed it, thereby earning entrance into what is Biblically called “her (the church’s) place” where God will protect and provide for His people during the final 48 months of this age during which the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord will ravage the earth because of the sins of mankind. Recall that, because of sin, He drowned everyone on earth except eight people. At other times He has sent two world wars, numerous civil wars, global pandemics, mental problems, natural disasters, the Great Depression, several recessions, etc. to punish man for his sins. He warns in Matthew 24 that all of those curses combined will not be as terrible as what is coming upon the earth. The many curses mankind has endured over the past centuries is only “… the beginning of sorrows.”

Billions of church people have been deceived into believing that they will be snatched up to heaven at some point during the Tribulation period. “Pre-trib” believers are sure they will taken to haven before the tribulation begins. Mid-trib people believe they will go up after a year or so in an earthly hell. Post-tribbers are sure they will survive the horror and be taken up afterward. As I proved in the series concerning the Rapture: there will not be one. Read about Satan’s great evacuation deception in the series bearing that name. Key word–Rapture. Concerning the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it horror that God warns us about in Matthew 24, this series will enable readers to answer the question found in the title–ARE YOU READY FOR IT?

The ultimate question presented and answered by this series is WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO GOD’S PEOPLE DURING THE TRIBULATION PERIOD? We find the answer in Christ’s letter to the church at Philadelphia as recorded in Revelation 3:7-13. Note that the Philadelphia Church era was the only era about which Jesus had positive things to say. His most important message to and about the Philadelphians was that they had WORKED FOR HIM, KEPT HIS WORDS AND HAD NOT DENIED HIS NAME (POWER OVER THEIR LIVES). For these reasons Jesus LOVED THEM (VS 9). In verse 10 He says to them: “Because you have kept the word of my patience, I WILL KEEP (GUARD, PROTECT) YOU FROM (IN) THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION WHICH WILL COME UPON ALL THE WORLD TO TRY THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH.”

Recall that when Jesus learned that the salvation-seeking rich man kneeling before him had kept the Ten Commandments all of his life, HE LOVED HIM. Nevertheless, He denied him salvation because of “ONE THING” (Mk. 10:17-22). As Jesus told the prostitute and the man at the Bethesda Pool, we must get each and every “one thing” out of our lives in order to join Him in paradise. (Jn. 5:14; 8:11). Jesus was telling the rich man the same thing He had told the prostitute and the sick man whose sins he had forgiven: “SIN NO MORE.” He is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). What He COMMANDS of one, He commands of all–WE MUST GET SIN OUR OF OUR LIVES AND KEEP IT OUT IN ORDER TO SIT WITH HIM ON HIS THRONE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD (1 JN. 2:6/REV. 3:21).

WARNING: Do not let Satan’s false prophets deceive you with their “It’s not your fault; Adam makes you do it; just repent” sewage. They are operating under the direction and power of Satan. Having done so for several years, I know what I am talking about. And bear in mind that during that time I was known for healing the sick, casting out demons and knowing things that I had no human way of knowing. THIS IS WHY GOD PRESERVED HIS WORD FOR US. HIS HOLY SCRIPTURES ARE THE ONLY TRUE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL TRUTH. I repeat yet again: EVERYTHING MUST COME BACK TO GOD’S WORD. IF IT ISN’T GOD’S WORD, IT ISN’T GOD. Many a soul has come to ruination because they listened to their heart, or to their minister instead of their Maker’s Word. It is the Word of God that is “good for formulating doctrine, for rebuke, for correction and for TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS” (2 Tim. 3:16). Read Isaiah 28:9-13 to learn how to study God’s Word. The devil will try to keep you away from God’s “fine print.” . As I have said before many times, the most powerful word in the Bible is “IF.” Recall that Jesus told His hand-picked disciples that He would die for them “IF YOU DO EVERYTHING I COMMAND YOU TO DO” (Jn. 15:13,14). Recall Peter saying that only the righteous in the church would be saved, and only by the skin of their spiritual teeth (1 Pet. 4:17,18). Again, do not be deceived by the “I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay. See you Sunday” hucksters. They are of the “show up, ‘fess up, pay up and prepare to go up” crowd. As Jesus said, “By their fruits (obedience or disobedience to His Word) you will know them.” L.J.