Prepare For Battle

During the past month I've had time to do some reading, and I got hold of two books with similar plots. Both stories laid out frighteningly realistic scenarios of the United States government gone crazy and God's people in America under attack. In the first book, the Illuminati, one of the reviews states that the story leaves people wondering where fiction ends and truth begins. I had to agree with that. How much do we really know of what goes on behind the scenes in our government? In this plot, an ancient secret society, changing its identity and tactics through the centuries but always working for the same ultimate goal, gains control of the U.S. government. Their goal is to rule the world, much like the one world system led by the Antichrist that we are warned about in the Bible. The general population is fooled at first, and Christians become hated and hunted. They are being herded into camps, where the plan is to eventually take them all out with nuclear weapons. Everything is spinning out of control and it appears to be the Great Tribulation just before Christ returns. But through the skill of some key individuals who have access to the new one world computer program and are sympathetic to the Christians, the tables are turned, others are shown the truth of what is happening, and the presidential administration, along with the society controlling it, is exposed and overturned. This is followed by a great revival in America. At the end, one of the main characters, a pastor who narrowly escaped death because his leadership thrust him into the spotlight, is speaking to his congregation. He tells them that God has given them a second chance. They have experienced real persecution and suffering, and all the trappings of life have fallen away for them. They have another chance to live all out for God and to spend themselves for the things that matter in eternity. They have a chance to prepare themselves for the final battle, because they have been through the refining furnace. Before, they knew the Bible said these times would come, but they didn't truly believe it would happen to them. I think most of us would agree that we also live in such denial. But after these people experienced the real thing, they knew that God had mercifully granted them a reprieve, but that more and greater tribulation would come. You know, I've always assumed that when things get that bad, it will surely be the tribulation of the end. I never imagined the possibility that this writer did. Of course we can only speculate; we know only that tribulation will come. It comes to each of us throughout life in all sizes and shapes. Jesus told us that in this world we will have tribulation. It's not a maybe, it's an absolute in this fallen world. But we also know that the greatest tribulation the world has ever known is yet to come, and the signs are increasing, and I strongly believe that the time is coming in this generation. And when I take a good hard look at myself, I must admit I am not ready for such suffering. I do not know what real suffering is. Stories like these make me think seriously about what it will take to hold fast to Jesus and what it means to be prepared for the utmost testing of my faith. I know the enormity of my own weakness. But I also know that my Redeemer lives! He is the Author and Finisher of my faith! He is the One who is able to keep me from falling and has promised to bear me up on His strength at my weakest moment. He alone can present me as an overcomer when it's all been said and done. The cry of my heart is to be among the faithful remnant who "overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death".

The second book I read was written 20 some years ago by Chuck Colson, but it was chilling in how easily the scenario could play out in the present time. The story was focused on the abortion battle and the mixture of earnest pro-lifers taking a strictly non-violent stand with the radical factions resorting to criminal tactics, such as murder of abortion doctors. A newly elected president was determined to crack down on the pro-life, Christian "terrorists" while advancing the agenda of new centers that were being built for the purpose of performing partial-birth abortions and using the fetal tissue to cure serious diseases such as AIDS. He also sent in the National Guard to stop crime in the streets, but things only got worse. People were being turned against the Christians A non-violent pro-life pastor was implicated in the blowing up of one of the new centers, because his brother was one of the perpetrators, and though the pastor did not condone the act, he knew what they were considering and didn't report them, and he helped them escape after the fact. He was treated very unjustly and ended up being killed in prison, but through his suffering his own conscience was cleansed and many people in the government came to their senses. We really need to ask ourselves what responsibility we have to fight for justice and uphold the cause of the helpless. God tells us clearly that we must not return evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good. We cannot allow bitterness and frustration to take over our hearts and make us just like the ones doing evil acts. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of darkness. Man, no matter how abominable his acts may be, is not the enemy. But neither can we stand silently by and turn away from the gross wrongs in our society that are breaking the heart of God. Let us ask God to make us willing to give our all for the cause. Let us consider how Jesus lived and do likewise. Let us pray to be strengthened and armed for the battle we face now and for the coming tribulation. And let us remember the promise of our Redeemer: "I am with you always, even to the end of the age."