"THE TRUTH IS..." Onward, Up, and Out
It was the life-changing unforgettable story of Jesus, His Cross and the Good News of the Gospel. As we chose to believe, the brokenness of our hearts compelled us to repent until the tears ceased to flow. At that point we could forgive ourselves just as Jesus was forgiving us, leaving us with the joyous burst of clean, clean, clean inside and out. In the moments of that spiritual quickening we were “Fathered from above,” better known as “born again,” recognizing that our journey in this world is but preparation for a more permanent citizenship in Heaven. There we will live forever in our glorified and incorruptible bodies with Jesus Christ, the Father, the Holy Spirit, all the saints of all the ages and the multitudes of the heavenly hosts. We are of a truth, a most peculiar people, Jews and Gentiles, sons and daughters of God, Fathered and rebirthed by the same Holy Spirit that Jesus was born of. Someday, if Jesus tarries, we will be resurrected by that same Spirit for He lives within us, never to leave us nor forsake us, not even through the grave… He is the same Spirit and resurrecting power that raised Jesus from the dead, raised a dead man to life through the saturated bones of the dead Elisha, and He will do the same for all the saints that die in Jesus. If their bones are not dry bones, if they are saturated with the oil of the anointing of the Holy Ghost at the time of their death, those saturated bones will rise to a new life with a new body in the day of their resurrection. Isn't this a most remarkable thing - that one minute we are sinners in a world that is doomed to judgment, and the next minute we are sinners forgiven, saved by Grace, changed in the twinkling of an eye from flesh to spirit and darkness to light. One moment we are fighting the power that draws us and the next we are bawling our eyes out. Oh what a blessed cleansing indeed those tears bring. What a blessed transformation from death to life. What a glorious revelatory truth pierces the mind, heart and soul of this brand new creature, overflowing with the cup of joy that is Christ moving in… He dwells in each of us as the Holy Ghost comforter, teacher, friend, guide and sealer of our redemption. He is our best friend for the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of prophecy. He has come to teach us all things that we need to know, for He will take of the things of Jesus and show them unto us. We are indeed a most peculiar people... Today we move onward - until the day we are moved up - and out - in the twinkling of an eye. There is a special crown of Righteousness waiting for those that love His appearing and that imminent appearing is so near we cannot afford to be distracted or tempted, not even for a moment. A moment is all it will take to leave this world... What exciting times we live in - what extraordinary privilege and accountability we have been given to see thousands-of-years-old-prophecies being fulfilled, to see the things the prophets of old, from Seth to Enoch to Moses to John the Revelator and all others who longed to understand the things they saw in the Spirit and could not. Only today many of these prophecies are finally opened to our understanding in the light of modern technology and currently forged international alliances, cultures, grievances and conflicts. Seventy years ago, just one generation ago, our grandparents and their pastors did not understand the word pictures of atomic warfare, nor could they imagine the prophesied return of the Jews to their ancient Biblical homeland. And yet it happened, just as God’s Word said it would. In just one generation troublesome and misunderstood prophecies have been opened to the amazement of all serious students of the Scriptures. These are now clearly understood as the signs of His coming and the signs of the times of the end. It is an awesome testimony to the Living God that the prophecies recorded against the world of today were written thousands of years ago by men moved by the Spirit of God to see and write down the words they themselves did not understand. And because the prophets of the Bible were completely submitted to His will, and to serving Him alone, we have the testimony of God’s infinite omniscience through His promises and warnings of things to come in our own generation. The coming world events will be no surprise to the student child of God. Such things are anticipated as guidelines to the Great Tribulation, and the climactic battle of the world’s armies as they surround Jerusalem in an attempt to take it from the children of Jacob. The battle of Armageddon will not be fought in the valley of Meggido. It may be gathered there but the battle will be fought at Jerusalem. It will be in that moment that Jesus Christ will return and descend to the Mount of Olives from where He ascended more than 2,000 years ago. And when he returns this second time, it will be with all the armies of Heaven to destroy that coalition of the world’s armies and deliver Jerusalem, His personal inheritance. Blessings upon the earth and the people of the earth are from the Lord, and so will His judgments be upon those nations that have terrorized and enslaved the Jews, dividing up their land and plundering their goods. And that day is not that far into the future. It is less than ten years away…perhaps eight… The Second Coming of Jesus will be in two phases. In the first phase He will descend to the cloud regions to summon His Bride, the righteous dead and the born-again believers of His Church. From cemeteries and fields, from river beds and forest floors, from mountain passes and ocean floors, from unexpected corners all over the world, the long hidden and forgotten graves of the righteous will give up their immortal treasures and the dead in Christ shall rise first, in new and glorious bodies. Then, they which are alive and remain will join them in the air, glorified, and in their robes of white linen. It will happen before they can blink their eyes, and so shall they ever be with the Lord. It is sometimes referred to as, “the great snatch,” because it will be sudden, a covert operation. It will happen so quickly and so suddenly there will be no gasp, no scream, no squeal, no praise or worship, no shouts of joy, no sounds of graves bursting open, no underground shaking of the earth’s cemeteries or any other sound or movement that would alert the world that the Rapture of the holy and righteous people of earth, both buried and living, has just taken place. The world will not see Him, nor will they hear the trumpet or the command to rise. He will come as a thief in the night and only the saints, both the dead and the living, will hear Him. And only the saints, quickened, changed and ascending, will see Him. There will be chaos, hysteria, tragic accidents and mayhem. Parents will be looking for their babies and their toddlers. Teenagers will be looking for their parents, and parents will be looking for their husbands and wives. Now the world will hear the screams, the cries, the sounds of tears and broken hearts. Too late – too late – too late…The One they called a myth and an imposter has come and gone and they’ve been left behind… How sad they did not believe…how sad they rejected the saints as Jerusalem rejected Jesus… These saints make up the only righteous force that restrains the takeover of this world by Satan’s antichrist, consequently it is the only righteous force that holds back the tribulation judgments that are coming upon this earth during his reign. Consequently, when the saints are transported to Heaven, without anyone’s permission or any earthly authority voting on it, all hell is going to break loose on planet earth. You will find these judgments decreed and described in the last book of the Holy Bible, called The Book of Revelations of Jesus Christ. And so it will be from the portals and windows of Heaven that the resurrected and glorified saints will observe the Tribulation horrors. Many of those left behind will remember the story they had heard so many times, and the testimonies and pleadings of those they loved, and they will weep and search the scriptures and repent, too late for the Rapture but they will nonetheless surrender to Jesus at last. A great harvest of souls will come out of the tribulation, a great multitude that no man can number (Rev. 7:9), but most of these souls will be martyred for their testimony of Jesus Christ… Let me give a word of caution here: if your relationship with Jesus does not become more precious to you than your own life, then you have no fountain of His love to draw on for strength and you will deny Him when they come to kill you for your faith. Muttering words of denial with fingers crossed is unacceptable. Making deals with God is unacceptable. Thinking He will understand if you protect yourself at the expense of the truth is a lie and is unacceptable. Taking the mark of the beast so you can buy bread or medicine for your loved ones – believing God will look on your heart and understand – will only land you in hell. God makes it perfectly clear that anyone who takes the mark of the beast is cursed for eternity and will spend eternity in hell (Rev. 13:9-11). These are not my words dear friends, these words were spoken by the Holy and Almighty God who declared the word and recorded it so men would believe and take heed. Even now, while there is still time, He offers life to those that will choose it. Salvation comes with circumcision of the heart, the cutting away of the flesh nature that is our legacy from Adam, which is then replaced with a spiritual healing from all our wounds and offenses, leaving us with a born-again-Holy-Ghost-filled-spirit that is now going to teach us how to control our wobbly nature. It is a separating unto God, leaving the world behind and moving onward with the things of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The second phase of His Second Coming will be at the battle of Armageddon, the final battle at the end of the seven years of tribulation. He will be riding a powerful white horse when He returns with all the armies and hosts of Heaven, all riding on powerful white horses. It is during this phase of His Second Coming that every eye on earth will see Him coming in the clouds. The greater masses of people will see Him through Satellite TV, those in Jerusalem and in the world’s armies gathered at Jerusalem will personally see Him touch down on Mt. Olivet. He will destroy these armies with the brightness of His coming, then He will judge the nations and set up His Kingdom and He will reign in Jerusalem on the Throne of David for one thousand years. He’s the good guy that whips the bad guys so you need to decide today whom you will serve… So, how did we get from the overwhelming clean, clean, clean joy of our conversion to the mess the world is in today? We did nothing! Bad things happen when good people allow it by doing nothing! How many of us showed up at the Supreme Court in 1963 to fight Madeline Murray O’Hare’s petition to have prayer removed from our schools? How many of us showed up in 1973 to fight for the right to life against the abortion advocates? How many of us have stood against the ACLU and their efforts to strip away all our religious freedoms? How many have publicly voiced their opposition to the trampling of our flag and our right to pray or speak the Name of Jesus in public places – in the military – in the courts – in the schools – in the Boy Scouts – at ballgames and commencements – at the inauguration of a new president…? Most of us have signed petitions and that’s about it. And that helps a lot but it isn’t enough. Today they want to take away talk radio so they can control political opinions – it’s called a police state! And here we sit, doing nothing! We believe our future is prewritten and will come to pass no matter what we do. Well, we are only half right. The other half of that misguided notion has to do with our convictions. Either we take a stand for righteousness and speak out for it, or we deserve the life in the cesspool this country’s liberals, rebels and atheists are pushing to give us. It vexes our spirits to consider it. It tears at our hearts to see it happening. And we cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus, come.” Yet, we may have to endure many things before He calls us out. We may have to go through a purging season where the sheep are separated from the goats and our loyalties to Christ are tested. There is no cheap Grace and one cannot be saved by just believing there is a heaven and a hell with a God and a savior named Jesus. Even the demons of hell and earth believe that – and tremble (James 2:19)! One must, as I have said, be born again, circumcised in the heart, and filled with the joy of their salvation unto the works of obedience and praise for the One who loves us more than we can imagine. We must rise to the occasion and fight for the faith of our fathers that covenanted with God in 1607, on the shores of Virginia, that this land and this nation would be raised up to serve God and to be a witness of Him and His Word to all the world. American leaders broke that covenant a generation ago and our parents and grandparents allowed it. American leaders of today are not only tearing that covenant to shreds but they are spitting on it and trampling it beneath their corrupt and worldly feet. They covet the creation more than they regard the Creator. Consequently, they have no future with the God they reject. I know that is blunt, even judgmental, but if you think I am blunt you should read the Scriptures… Let us go back in remembrance to our first love, that day when we were first saved and recapture what we may have displaced or covered up with other things. Let’s bring it out into the light and embrace it yet again and make a new promise to the One we love, the promise of faithfulness no matter what, to fight for the truth no matter what, to support the saints on the frontlines, no matter what, and to tell someone daily about Jesus while there is still time to bring them with us for the up-and-out-snatching away. Let’s be more than animate – let’s be noisy, let’s be emotional like the children that crossed the Red Sea – bring out the tambourines and let’s dance – and get rid of that old long-faced religion. Let’s resurrect the joy of our salvation so the world can see it and hear it and want it. Let’s be the world’s peculiar children of the Most-High-God. Let’s show the world we are who we say we are. And let it be decreed by the prayers and declarations of the children of the Kingdom that by our very presence in the earth, the world will see Christ in us – whether they want to or not… Joan Krempel
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