Jesus warns of persecution and betrayal coming
The words of Jesus recorded in Matt 24 struck me powerfully this week. Please consider with me what he prophesied regarding our day:KJV: 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
And in a more modern NIV translation if you will:
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
It is the part about being persecuted and betrayed by those we trusted that struck me most in this prophecy.
How will this betrayal occur? over what issues?
Some of us have actually experienced betrayal at the hands of those we trusted, and persecution.
Because I was outspoken on hard evidence regarding the falsity of the government story of 9/11 and the collapse of WTC7 and Towers, I found myself mocked and betrayed and yes, persecuted. I was mocked and ousted and shunned, frankly. It was so bad that my wife was in tears and we felt we needed to move out of our ward of over twenty years in Provo. We moved.
So I have just a taste I think of what Jesus was talking about. But clearly Jesus is prophesying of persecution on a much broader scale.
Let's face it, the whore Babylon seeks to fight against the good Woman (1 Nephi and Revelation and D&C warnings). Something will stir the Gadiantons, Babylon, against the Church in a major way and persecution and betrayal will follow. Then, " At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray.. each other". How will you be betrayed? or will you be a betrayer (I hope not)?
In the Aug 2010 Ensign, Pres. Packer speaking of Lehi's dream warnedAll of the mocking does not come from outside of the Church. ... Be careful that you do not fall into the category of mocking.
What will cause this great turning in the eyes of the world, to a visible and deliberate mocking and persecution of the Mormons?
You can almost feel it coming, can't you?
What can I/we do to heed the words of Jesus -- to prepare to remain faithful, to not let our love grow cold?
This is what I had to say on the matter according to what I have seen in visions of others and my own witness:
Dr. Jones, I feel we will have foreign troops on our soil to "help" out after the second Civil War becomes so bad we cannot secure our own borders and coasts. They will be acting under the auspices of the UN and other international bodies who will declare that you will step into line or face death - specifically be having your head lobbed off according to scripture. There will be other modes of death - but this one particularly strikes fear into the hearts of people in a public example sort of way, so this mode will be used for effect. Many others will, as well, but this one will to get everyone else to tow the line. The end result will be to destroy God's people - it has always been that way.
So, there will be massive persecution, there will be terrible betrayal in order to literally save one's neck, and there will be death on a large scale. We will pass thru interesting times.
So, when I run into someone like Jeone (previous post) who is elect, but has fallen due to sin and circumstance, and who has that spirit of bloodlust and hate for what is right, I ask that the Lord to drop the hammer and straighten things out before that individual finds themselves on the side of betrayal and seeking after the lives of those who are good and right. The Lord did it with Saul of NT fame. Even having repented and descended to where he did in humility and service, he still had to experience the flip side of the fruits of his early labors so he would have a full knowledge in this life - and to seal his testimony with his blood. Truly we reap what we sow. I have some mind-blowing experiences from my own life that I will share sometime in the future, that drove home some hard lessons with me.
people are willing to kill for a few dollars or a handful of drugs. . . there will be plenty willing to kill for even less if it is encouraged. . .
ReplyDeleteBuried in the Christian prophecies on the site linked below there are descriptions of the invasion forces demanding that individuals deny Christ and live. Those that refuse are beheaded. Individuals are 'turned in' by their supposed friends and neighbors. It's all part of the Adversary's plan of revenge.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pressie.org/dreams_visions.html
I'm not advocating the pressie website, I've just found the Christian visions and viewpoints illuminating. They've been warned to repent just as vehemently as we have.