The forces of chaos are on the march.There has been a release of anti-christian thought that we have never before seen in the west. In times past it has typically taken decades to slowly denigrate a people. Study history and see that the assaults came in what is known as gradualism. Before Jewish people were ever murdered in the holocaust they were openly maligned for at least a decade or more although anti semitism had been around for countless centuries and Jewish people were killed in many pogroms. Goebbels, one of Hitlers right hand men, was the mastermind behind turning a whole nation against one group of people using the power of propaganda via radio and newspapers. In Rwanda we saw the open and brazen denigration of one group against another over a long period of time before the slaughter began, typically through radio. Now we see more and more open hostility to anyone who holds to God’s views whether in the realms of science or morals. The difference today is that there is massive power to be wielded through television and social media and technology. What formerly took decades to achieve, poisoning the minds of the masses, can now be achieved in a stunningly short period of time, such is the scope of that power. And so we see that stage one of persecution consists of marginalizing a minority and denigrating their believes and who they are.
Stage two in the enemies plan is to peel away those who love the world more that than they love the truth. Satan already has the world, now he goes after those who believe they are morally minded. As societal pressure mounts, they soon find out they are not as morally minded as they thought they were and they either jump ship or shut up. Stage three is where the enemy goes after those who are bold enough to call themselves after the name of Jesus. More pressure is applied, perhaps one could lose his job or his friends or his place in the world in general and then we begin to see a rationalizing that leads them to join the world or shut up. Stage by stage Satan is silencing everyone until only the voices of those who cry in the wilderness are left and then his job is done. He has identified and isolated the remnant, and then the violence begins. What stage are we at? Well the early stages I would say.
Let us not be fooled though, because of mass communications in the modern world, societies and attitudes can change much more quickly that they ever could before. The ” Arab Spring,” is a great example of how the speed and the power of modern communications and social media can very rapidly effect change. This is an enormous power in the hands of the ” prince of the power of the air.” He is now extremely active in the ” children of disobedience.” ( Eph 2:2) The pressure will become more intense as we enter into the next stage of the birth pangs.
What is birth pangs? If Jesus uses this example, it is definitely worth looking at and studying. Birth pangs is labor pains. In another translation the phrase ” the beginning of sorrows ,” is used. When a woman goes into labor, there are three stages.
1. Early or latent phase.
2. Active phase.
3. Transition phase.
The duration of the early phase is the longest, averaging around eight hours. The pain can be simple backache. You can still walk around, in fact that is sometimes more comfortable than sitting. Most woman spend these hours at home, or they can be checked into the hospital and sent home until labor becomes more active. Feeling of eagerness and excitement are not unusual. It is important at this stage that energy is conserved for the work of labor.Then comes the active phase. This is marked by regular contractions that become longer and stronger and closer together. When you are in active labor you will be concentrating on the task at hand and will not feel like doing anything else. After active labor comes the transition phase. This is the most difficult time of labor, and fortunately, this is the shortest period of time lasting from 30 minutes to two hours on average but it also the most intense as the child comes.
Brothers and sisters, I am not sure which stage we are in, but I can tell you that the birth pangs have most certainly begun, we are most definitely living in the ” beginning of sorrows. Jesus says in Matthew 24:9 that after these things that Christians will be delivered up, they will be afflicted and killed and hated by all nations, and for what? "For my name’s sake.” Can I suggest brothers and sisters that the war on the name of Jesus Christ has already begun. It’s for His name that we will be delivered up after the birth pangs. As the days darken and we see these things come to pass, let us lift up the name of Jesus Christ all the more. For it is when He is lifted up that men are drawn to Him.
There is no other name under heaven by which a man can be saved. There is power in the name of Jesus Christ when the bearers of that name walk in the beauty of Holiness and in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why the enemy will wage a savage war against the saints in the last days. He will attempt to blot out that name which is above every name because he knows the time is coming when every knee will bow, whether in heaven, on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father............bro Frank