A few days ago I completed my book “The Prodigal Son Prophecy: God’s Amazing Plan for the Restoration of the Two Hebrew Houses and the Salvation of the Gentiles” and sent it off to the publisher. In my estimation, this is the most important of my eight books and is the writing project to which I have devoted more time than any other: more than a decade. It is a work of theological scholarship that reflects the most important conclusions I have reached in my 35-year devotion to studying the Bible and living the biblical worldview. I offer a free digital version here in serial form.
I believe ours is the last generation before the Lord’s return and that He laid out the specific timeline for last-days events in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25. Matthew 24:14 states, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” I take this as both a summary of the work of the 2,000-year church age generally and a prophecy of a specific event/phenomenon about to unfold. It occurs after the apostasy of Matthew 24:9-14 crests and before the Antichrist installs the “Abomination of Desolation” in Matthew 24:15-28. I believe the apostasy has begun but not crested, and so now should be the time when the remnant prepares for the biggest evangelism event of all time.
That big event will lead to another, bigger event: the Rapture, when the Lord will return in the clouds to claim His Bride (freshly enlarged by our evangelism) and to reclaim the earth for His Millennial Kingdom.
The Word tells us about the Rapture in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 :
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.”
And Jesus Himself told us WHEN that will occur in Matthew 24:29-31:”Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.’”
We’re fast approaching Christmas, and most of us begin the planning and preparation for it well in advance. We want our celebration of the Birth of Christ to be the high point of our year. There’s nothing wrong with that, even if you (like me) disagree with the commercialization and secularization of Christmas or think Jesus was born at some other time of the year. Christmas is always good if our focus is on Him.
But the biggest event of all, even bigger than the birth of Christ, is coming soon – the Second Coming – and we have been given advance notice that it will be preceded by a great end-times revival. How much more should we be preparing for that! We have also been warned not to get distracted by the things of the world as we see that Day of the Lord approaching. As Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 5:4, “But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.” More importantly, Jesus said in Matthew 24:45-46, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.”
What is this “food” we are to be serving when the Lord returns? It is the Milk and Meat of the Word! (1 Peter 2:2 and 1 Corinthians 3:11-14.) What is the proper time? When we see the signs of the end of the age! “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).
I believe 2022 will be a year of apostasy and tribulation-driven revival, and that is what I personally will prepare for. As always, have a two-track approach. Track 1 is cultural and political – fighting the Marxist agenda, especially the LGBT and Critical Race Theory (i.e. anti-white racism) components. Track 2 is spiritual/evangelistic – not just the teaching ministry that has been my emphasis for the past decade, but community outreach. I am especially interested in evangelizing the MAGA movement, which in my perspective is a “field white unto harvest” because I believe the patriotism of the populists is rooted in the Christian heritage of their parents and grandparents. This provides a clear path for reconnecting their America First values with faith in Christ – especially through our ability to teach about the political and culture-war aspects of Whole Bible Christianity – which I specialize in.
There are dark clouds gathering, and much anxiety in the world, but I am eager for the prophetic events to unfold. I want to be alive and active in the Lord’s service when He comes, and I want to drag as many people info the lifeboat as possible during the great revival.
This article is my declaration of commitment to be ready for the harvests: the big, bigger and biggest events of the last days. I urge us all to prepare NOW for Great End Times Salvation Search-and-Rescue.
Note: Lively’s new book is available for free here.
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