The End Times:

God Is In Control

John Erickson

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IGNORING THE WORLD

In Mark 5:35, Jairus received a negative report that his daughter had died.

OVERHEARING but IGNORING [Amplified Version] what was said, Jesus said to him, "fear not, only believe."

In order to stay focused on the Kingdom of God and its power to keep us from the world's attacks, we need to willfully ignore the the negative reports. In this verse, Jesus knew this messenger only saw physical circumstances and had no insight into spiritual laws. Jesus was employing a specific law for maintaining faith:  Ignore the ignorant, act on your faith despite what you see.  This event reveals the use of a law of God in the face of ungodly, or worldly, thinking. I believe this is a model of the approach we need to take during the Tribulation - to keep the Tribulation from getting into us.

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Matthew: 24:6 - See to it that you are not troubled.

It's a command, not a suggestion. How can we "not be troubled" in these threatening times?

1. Mt 24:14 - 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.

a. The Gospel will not cease to be an effective power during the tribulation, for it will be preached right up until the End comes.

We don't put our eyes onto the famines and earthquakes and false christs. We fixate instead on the Laws of the Gospel: Casting our care onto God (1 Peter 5:7 ), commanding the mountain to remove itself (Mt 17:20), trampling on the serpent (Psalm 91:13).

It is a command to "not be troubled"; AND we're enabled to "not be troubled" by our use of the Law of God.

* * *  IT IS VERY dangerous, from now until the return of Jesus, for a Christian to devote serious attention to TV, news reports and the commentary of worldly minds: because events are going to happen so fast that the natural abilities of the human mind won't be able to process them without incurring panic.  Such a panic would spark a fear‑based paralysis of the mind and rob our spirit of faith energy (which will be the only force that can deliver us from these events). We have to envision ourselves as living in the Kingdom of God NOW, today... and picture that kingdom as being all around us. We are not allowed to let the unbelieving world shape our thoughts. We are not allowed to entertain fear.

The Word says,  "Men's hearts shall fail them for what is about to come on the earth"  [Luke 21:26]. The fear of these events can kill. We're commanded to cast our care and worry onto God. God also revealed that:

the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Rev 21:8)

* * * I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

Most fear is based on worry over one's physical body. "We are IN this world, but not OF this world." The physical body is of this world, but WE (our SPIRITS) are NOT. Death will not have the paings and throes of one's wrestling between earth and spiritual worlds that the unbeliever experiences and fears, because we have been crucified with the Anointed One and have achieved death to the PHYSICAL and taken on LIFE of the spiritual in the Kingdom of God.

The experience of renewal and joy that occurred when we were Born Again through the Anointed Jesus is an example of the renewal process that we'll experience when the body dies. Death has no "sting" to it for the Believer (1 Corinthians 15:55).

That's why it's so crucial to avoid the world's news reports and atheistic academic belief systems (philosophy, psychology, etc.) because they're OBSESSED with the emptiness they perceive about death. They perceive this because  they identify themselves ONLY with their physical bodies and egotistical intellects. Everything beyond the physical seems "unreal" to them. And unfortunately they are the ones giving us the "news" and assessments of the world's events.  They can't help but to infect those reports with fear. We have to FULLY IGNORE the popular commentary of the worldly during these End Times.

* * * Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Mat 24:35

Even if we have to go through the entire Tribulation, God's Word is STRONGER in its ability to deliver us than is the Tribulation's attempts to harm us.

If we're worrying over the events in the world, we've got our eyes on the wrong "kingdom". We have to keep our eyes on the right game: the Kingdom of God.

"Intercede on behalf of those in authority, for kings..." (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

This is the power that will place ministering spirits (angels) from God around us. (Hebrews 1:14) to protect us from any harm attempted by those leaders, antichrist(s) included.

Mat 6:34 - Therefore don't be concerned about tomorrow, for tomorrow will concern itself with its own matters. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Mat 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We have to stand firm in the Kingdom of God during these times. If there's shortage, famine, no power, fuel, or any of these "things", "seek first the Kingdom". Find out in that time what God wants you to do, what he has for you to carry out. By doing this, God's provision and protection will rest on you.

WE NEED TO keep a watch over what we say. The quickest way for a disaster to get started is to spread a rumor that a disaster's coming. If Wall St. believes a depression is coming, people will hoard money as a defense and thereby create a depression. We know that we're living in the Last Days, so it's easy to believe any bad news that comes down the pike. Some of it may be true. But if we want victory, it begins with speaking the result. The "World Order" can sell defeat to believers just by letting some "news" slip out about terrorism, war, or a bad economy. None of these things affect reality - they only affect emotions. If you believe it you just give up.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies... Psalm 23:5

God will prepare a "table" in the midst of the Tribulation:

(Rev 12:14 - And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.)

We have to speak it and believe it. Get to the table before the enemies steal it from us!

God is in control:

Hebrews 1:3 - Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

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© John Erickson