We Know Not the Time or the Way…
- White Stone
- 4 hours ago
- 12 min read
The beginning of sorrows is now. Global persecution and danger are found
worldwide. Universal mourning is prevalent among all of God’s people. How
are God’s watchmen to convey the timing and the methods that will so
desolate humanity as to erase all identifying differences except that of the
godless who continue in their opposition to God and are purged at his coming
or the faithful watching for his return. Knowing the time is not the objective of
our studies. Our objective must be our readiness. This can only be
accomplished in our clinging to every word of God.
National security, emerging diseases, global governance, racial crisis, will
seem as meager matters compared to the besetting demonic conditions to
be imposed upon the human race. The horrors of war and famine will display
the depravity of mankind. The purpose…to reveal the character and
corruption of the influence that Satan has upon those who utter hatred for
God. We must now compare the prophetic accounts and get the fullest
picture of reality that we have clear commentary as the book comes to a
close. There will be an awful torment to be experienced. Most targeted by
the world and by the enemy will be those that God has ordained to
accomplish His purposes through His calling. The timing is settling around
the abomination. It is the way that the events will present themselves that
will overwhelmingly surprise us. We offer no speculation. God will reveal to
His as the more time we spend with God, the more teachable we become
concerning Him and the more truth we discover about God, the more
profound He becomes to us and the more we seek to maintain a biblical
balance between looking forward to his coming and living in holiness in the
present, the more we bring glory to our God.
Life experiences will approach unto such spiritual calamity as to deeply
empty the soul. The valley of sorrow will see the end of human strength as
the trials, the troubles eat away spiritual self-confidence. The only hope will
come from knowing and depending on God alone. We must be sufficiently
advanced in grace to be ready to behold the mysteries of the time and the
agony of the ways of the winepress. There will be an inner chamber of grief
shut out from human knowledge. It would not be possible for any believer,
however experienced, to know for himself all the mental suffering and hellish
malice to be set forth. We will surely drink of the master’s cup and be
baptized with his baptism. We will know unutterable woe. In enduring the
immersing into sorrow’s depths, we will be driven to the very verge of
distraction by the intensity of our anguish. Grief will be of a most
extraordinary character. No sorrow like this sorrow has been since the will of
Jesus was tried in the garden. Wisdom itself rebukes us with the question,
can we understand the ways of agonies upon us? We cannot do more than
look at the revealed causes of grief as we fully comprehend the meaning of
sin and see it as a thing exceeding sinful. It is as though the shadows of
death cover us. This is not the wrath of God that is determined upon the
wicked. This is the trial of faith for the redeemed who will have not the desire
to sleep in the grave. This time, these ways are sin in its natural blackness.
But oh, thank God for the thought that at this hour our spirits may be
encouraged as heaven is looking upon us. The foresight of the trials will not
match the grievousness of the trials. This, ere we pass from the
contemplation. We know this is but the shallow streams of sorrow—ahead of
the buffeting with the swellings of Jordan. It is not possible for us to lift the
veil of what revelation will permit to fall, but we can form some faint idea
because of the hate speech, hate crimes, ethnic violence, and wars seen
today. Hate is the mantra of our time. The bible foretells us of this…the love
of many shall wax cold…perilous times shall come, without natural affection,
fierce despisers. The level of hatred today reflects the malicious and wicked
influence of Satan the Devil upon the minds of many. There is a purposed
reason revealed why God says, “Esau I hate.” God hates wickedness…their
thoughts, their evil ways, their pretended worship, the seduction of God’s
people. Wickedness is first a mark of the deepest rebellion against God and
against His law. Because these sinful people cannot storm the gates of
heaven to dethrone and destroy God Himself, they turn on what is dearest
to Him and nearest to His image. And so, they act out their wickedness
against other people. They hurt them, harm them, main them, and will kill
them. Every attempt will be put forth to put us to shame. We will be brought
low becoming a prey to death because of our faith in every word of God. God
hates the wicked because their wickedness is expressed particularly against
God’s elect. Wicked people turn their fury against God’s people, mocking
them, persecuting them, putting them to death. God’s people choose not to
hate those who hate them. The enemy will find nothing in us that fouls the
character. We will not be alone. Heaven is with us. Angels of God will be sent
to attend us.
May we pause for consideration of God’s calling His election for purpose.
God must allow the enemy’s request to move forward less there be any
question to His fairness. There must never be any casualness or disregard
to our studying the word of God. We are to prove the strength of the
atonement of Jesus. As stars of God, the light given us of His glory must
never be quenched. We must do our all to fill the courts of heaven with
choristers of God. As we are smitten, others will be gathered. Recall how
Jesus was beheld as the only begotten of the Father. This does not mean
that Christ was like the only-begotten of the Father…He is really so. And as
we are the purposed election called and chosen by God, we are not just an
expression in the bible, not a mere likeness to a thing, but the very thing
itself. In the darkest of times, in every way of trial and trouble, we will be that
very better thing. We will be the faith of Jesus. This is the phenomenon of
the revelation of the mystery. We will be unrivalled as a people of God. As
Christ proved the mighty power of his love in great drops of blood, the very
observation of our faith will show the nourishing of the Spirit in our inner being
as we pass through the trials. This will be our lot, and this we are to teach
others. This is not something we seek. Therefore, our unceasing prayer, our
prayer in loneliness, is “Lord, in the power of your word, help me through this
thing…for your name’s sake.”
This is the sword in our solitude. This is God exalting us in due time.
This is our stronghold in the day of trial as we are
confident to plead our adoption. This is our faith in our Intercessor.
The events we know. The time we know not. The ways we know not, but his
advent we know of a certainty…therein is our hope needed for the terrific
struggle upon us. Herein is our victory in the battle. His enduring suffering
and choiced death bears record that atonement was made not only at the
cross. For this purpose the restraints upon the enemy are loosened. The
enemies of God will be allowed to touch our bones, our flesh, their fiendish
energies will be united…but our heart…our soul…our spirit…We will face in
each one conflict all that craft could invent, all that malice could devise, all
that infernal practice could suggest. We will face the devil in the form of men.
It is quite likely that many of God’s people will die in the final days before the
close of probation. Some will come to this time and loose something else.
One of the most serious losses to affect some of the professed people of
God will a loss of trust. How could a person spend all that time with Jesus
and still be willing to betray Him? Because God loves us there are some
particularized challenges that He will deliver to each of us. God gives us truth
teachings that are revealed so that as we meet them, we shall know that we
have felt them, because we will feel them deeply and keenly and pervasively.
The way of these trials will be so exquisite and so severe. We are not
forgotten, never forsaken. For the sake of righteousness, to endure, to be
patient in the midst of affliction, in the midst of being misunderstood, and in
the midst of suffering - that is being purposed by determination to be called
as God’s chosen to display His great love and electing grace, He chose us,
and through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, is transforming the
thoughts and actions of His people now and to become. Ultimately, all of
God's purpose in election is done to the praise of His glorious grace. We
show His love even when there is no reciprocity. It is hard doctrine, but we
will be tried in all things being prepared for the worthiness of the kingdom. It
is the trial of our faith that will write our true witness. It is the leaving us in
this world, even though we are not of it, for a moment that prepares us for
the better world. His will will be done in, by, for, and through us. Every
seemingly unconnected past moment, as we look back, take form and
pattern. For there is in each of our lives this kind of divine design, this pattern,
this purpose that is in the process of becoming, which is continually before
the Lord but which for us, looking forward, is sometimes perplexing. Do
nothing to escape the calling that comes to us. The reality of the purpose will
be revealed in the truths studied for approval. The adversary will press
particularly in the areas of our vulnerabilities. Let this not take us unaware.
Think not that our lot is so hard or that when we feel our selves
misunderstood, that it is right for us to indulge ourselves in feeling some self-
pity. There will be times when the enemies of God darken the light with false
coverings…so much the better for God. We will fight in the shade! We must
be ready to fight in the shade of circumstance. One of the ways we can have
perspective that will permit us to fight in the shade of circumstances is to
study the scriptures and have involvement - intellectually and spiritually. We
may know and understand that God is totally serious about His purpose to
bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His election. That His chief
concerns are but for the growth of souls, the celestializing of the souls with
whom He purposed by election. Brothers and sisters, we discern that
something special is happening in our lives but are not able to sort it out with
sufficient precision and clarity that we can articulate it to someone else.
That is so often the truth of the gospel. Its truths are too powerful for us to
entertain them ceremoniously or as a special event as though they are only truths
sometimes. Truths move us beyond personal motivation to purpose for
favorable opportunity in significant events during times of trials. This trouble
will help many to understand that the truth of God is real, because He is
warning all about it now. So why not bypass this time and the atrocious ways
that will accompany it. The attitude of the world today makes most obviously
why there must be a time of trouble like none other. Satan’s accusations that
God is presented as a withholding, untrustworthy being who can hold His
creatures in submission only by death threats is to be revealed for the
deceptive purposes devised to impress the rebellious human race that
freedom is not based on obedience but rather on imagined superiority. The
purpose is to cause our standing to be closer to eternity. The existence of
God, the character of God, the love of God and the true consequences of sin
are etched out powerfully by God's working in history. But remarkably, the
lessons are all too often lost on the defiant people who are of disbelief.
The power of the sin illusion is that amnesia sets in quickly and dark minded
people use such displays of sin as a power that works as evidence against
God. Many say they can’t trust God in the small challenges of life, how will
we have confidence in Him in the large things? The punctuated episodes of
dreadfulness and conflict throughout history has been allowed by God to
potently impact the chaos to come upon the earth. God has patiently blunted
the full impact of sin's destructive power. But here finally at the end of time,
in ways that will once and for all vindicate the character of God, God must lift
the restraint and expose the true reality that is the dark underside of the
cosmic rebellion. While this lifting of restraint is an act of divine judgment and
revelation, like all manifestations of the wrath of God, there is a component
of "letting alone" for those who hold the truth in unrighteousness and are
given over to a reprobate mind so that the true principles of God's enemy
and the natural outworking of the sin principle are revealed. Then under
God’s guidance Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one
great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce
winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose…a time of
trouble in a way that never man could imagine or devise. This will precede
the universal close of probation and the rendering of the final plagues. Before
it is all over everyone alive will have made a decision about whom they will
worship. Everybody is shouldered off the fence by these happenings.
Multitudes offer allegiance to the beast creature while a remnant worship the
Creator God. As the world polarizes, a stark clarity emerges. The seductive
principles that have mesmerized most of the world are revealed as horrific,
destructive lies. The trustworthiness of God is vindicated.
May I advance this thought? This is to be the greatest time in history to be
alive. For God’s people and those who come to Christ will be His elect and
very elect. In the face of tribulation, distress, and persecution we are
overcomers powered by our faith in the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We will experience an unprecedented sense of purpose during this time. Life
will come into focus like never before. The earth will be in complete upheaval.
Crucible crisis will recede into nothingness. The one truly important
issue…the matter of supreme faithfulness. Who is worthy of our worship? Is
Jesus truly Lord or not? Is He Lord of our lives? As during this awful time, we
experience His Lordship in new and powerful ways, as the "latter rain" of the
Holy Spirit drenches us, and a host of distractions fall away, this will be a
time never known before. We will experience profound personal
transformation during this time. The purpose of this time goes beyond the
unmasking of the heavy blackness of evil and confronts us with the ways in
which it has taken root in the hearts of man. We will experience absolute
spiritual exhaustion in this prologue to endless joy. For six thousand years,
God’s people have known “times of trouble” and “days of distress” would
continue to the last days. The scriptures describe the faithful not as those
who never saw trouble, but as those who cried out to God in their crises.
The believer who worries that they want to escape trials and trouble through
death is in danger. They don’t have faith in God to strengthen and protect
them even when times are rough before the great time of trouble. Faith can
conquer any situation. Faith in God will be tried to the uttermost. Persecution
of believers who have this level of faith reflects God’s power, truth, and grace
even while being burned at the stake. In the end of time, the strong in Christ
will endure the pressure of the beast’s power, the political and religious
entity. They are faithful and obedient to the commands of God. As a result,
they are recognized specifically as those who suffer for the purpose of
revealing God’s glory. The bible emphasizes the terrible conditions during
the great tribulation predicted by Daniel and Jesus. These were written as
warnings for future generations. They paint a dark, bleak picture for those
who will not heed the truth. There is no precedence for the type of situations
coming.
In the time of the deepest turmoil on earth, God will have a people who
demonstrate to the universe staying faithful to God even amid extreme
difficulty showing the glorification of God working through us. The bible tells
us that Jesus stands up for his people. The bible gives us this powerful
allusion to strength, decision, and finality of our Savior. It tells us that Jesus
has had enough. This is not a deliverance from the time of trouble but
through the time of trouble. We will not escape persecution; we will endure
it. There is a people at this time who spue hatred in torrents of flames that
are intended for destruction. These are those thinking they are living in peace
and safety in this society and are a sensitive narcissistic generation who
could care less about God. They are caught unaware when the Lord “stands
up.” Because of their subconscious darkness they have no understanding of
the time. They are lords of their own nightmares. These unbelievers wrapped
up in everyday life apart from God are contrasted with those who stay faithful
to God. Our eyes are looking upward. We are covered. The others are
looking to nature to save them. We don’t know the time, we don’t know the
way. We are tempted to ask when God, when, and how God, how. God
wants us to live by discernment - revelation knowledge, not head knowledge.
We learn to trust God by going through many experiences that require trust.
By seeing God's faithfulness over and over, we let go of trusting ourselves,
and we place our trust in Him. We see how timing plays an important part in
learning to trust God. The exact timing of His plan will be perfect. The ways
of His plan will fulfill His every purpose. We must began to see major
fulfillment of what God has called us to do. God’s timing is often a mystery.
His trouble has purpose…to fit us for the kingdom.
📖 Applying the Study
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