In the Holy Bible, the Word of God says in the Book of ‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ,’ in chapter 19, verse 10: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Do you have the testimony of Jesus Christ?

Then do you have the spirit of prophecy?

What do I mean? Well, for one thing to be able to correctly understand the prophetic Word of God of future events still to come that await fulfillment, all lined up in God’s calendar of time of recorded history.  Things that must shortly come to pass!

What things? In order, and just to mention some: the end of the church age at the Rapture of dead and living believers in Jesus Christ; followed the start of the last seven years of human history known in Scripture as the ‘Tribulation, followed by the glorious 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ to earth to set up His kingdom and reign for a thousand years; followed by the Great White Throne Judgment when Jesus the Messiah shall judge the unbelieving dead of all time; follower by the new Heaven and the new Earth, and the New Jerusalem which comes down from Heaven, and the Eternal Order forever with GOD.

These will all happen in order…why? Because God said so!

To think, to meditate upon, to visualize, to imagine, to talk about them, and to teach and preach them is the spirit of prophecy.

So set your heart, and soul and mind on the things above, the things unseen, on eternity, for God has placed them in your heart.

The prayer, “Even So, Come, Lord Jesus” was used in the early church during the darkest of times when it seemed that things couldn’t get much worse! And so the believers prayed that Jesus would come back and make things better. Only Jesus is the answer to all the world’s problems; our fears, our brokenness, our hurting, our suffering.  only Jesus can bring true peace, comfort and joy! Only Jesus!

But before the prophecies of Revelation take place in rapid succession, the rise of Antichrist and the False Prophet, before the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments, before his 2nd Coming, the ‘Rapture,’ which is imminent, must first take place.

First of all, the doctrine of the Rapture is set forth in the New Testament in John 14, I Corinthians 15 and I Thessalonians 4. There are others to be sure, but these are the ‘big three.’ The Rapture could happen at any moment; only God the Father knows the day and time. The Rapture is a mystery. This is something Jesus Himself will do with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God…for Jesus will come out of heaven to the earth, in the air above the clouds…and the dead in Christ will be raised first; then the believers who are alive at that time shall be changed-translated in the ‘twinkling of an eye,’  and rise to meet those in the air (raptured; harpazo; transported from one place to another)…and together we shall meet Christ in the air above the clouds, and follow him to Heaven…And so shall we ever be with the Lord! This is our sure and blessed hope!  therefore, comfort one another with these words.

Are we doing this? Are we telling folks the rest of the story? Do you have the testimony of Jesus…the spirit of prophecy?

As we say goodbye to 2019 and all it held, all that happened both good and bad, all the things we did or didn’t do, all our hopes and dreams and prayers…all the wonders of life all around us…all the blessings and gifts and miracles sent from God on high…all our thanksgiving and prayers and healing and comfort and peace…

May this last day of the year, December 31, 2019+In the Year of our Lord+ New Year’s Eve be a blessing from Almighty God to bring in 2020 with His mercy and love and blessings to us all,

In Jesus Christ’s name forever and ever,

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.