A Sudden Shout to Come Out!

The True Messengers of Christ will be Appear Soon

Jesus taught much about the end of this age. For the Christian, he warned not to be slothful and passive in their relationship with God or ignore the signs of the coming trouble leading up to his return. Also he warned to watch out for false prophets, false leaders, and false alarmists. Unfortunately, we see few ministries and very few Christians practicing what Christ taught about discernment and preparedness as the end of this age approaches.

We have warned time and again by pointing out the many trouble flashpoints appearing over the last 20 years, those that Christ and Scripture elaborate upon. These flashpoints are like mile markers clearly indicating how quickly a worldwide day of reckoning with God is drawing near. The world is about to be tossed into a cauldron of chaos as described in Revelation chapter six—wars, savagery, economic mayhem, famine and plagues.

The simple reasons that most Christians reject true warnings are due to false teachings that keep the majority of God’s people at ease and in love with this world. Then also, many ignore these warnings because they have become gun-shy by the false alarmists who set dates of Christ’s appearance—not wanting to venture into any type of extremism for fear of being labeled a false fanatic.

God knows that most Christians will be in a stupor—asleep during the darkest hour. We are warned of this dangerous condition with various teachings of Christ and the New Testament writers. In particular Christ describes this sleepy condition in his parable of the ten slumbering maidens awaiting the appearance of the bridegroom in Mathew 25.

But at Midnight There will be a Cry—A Sudden Shout to Come Out

In that parable we read this portion, “As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps” (Matthew 25:5-7 ESV).

 Indeed, most are asleep—however, this condition is about change with a sudden shout. But from whom and how will that cry or shout come?

A threshold is about to be crossed where the birth pangs of the coming kingdom will become a torrent of signs, troubles, and perplexities forcing the world and most Christians to finally take pause. The-end-of-the-age message will become forefront to Christianity. There are various mangled end-time-scenarios embraced by Christians today that mislead many; however, the correct end-time-scenario will be delivered by true bondservants of Christ in the near future.

True messengers of Christ will appear from nowhere accompanied with powerful signs and wonders that will make the current counterfeit gifts and empty manifestations pale in comparison. These men and women will be common people not trained in man’s teachings. Rather, they will be people prepared for this coming hour in Christ’s school of ministry in life, where the work of the cross has been embraced and suffering, trials, and the discipline of the Lord have been their schoolmaster.

In cultural context of the parable of the ten maidens, it was custom in Christ’s day for those who announced the coming of the bridegroom to be his close bondservants who were in-the-know concerning the bridegroom’s schedule. They came announcing with a loud cry or shout, “Behold the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”

What will be the Content of the Sudden Shout?

This sudden shout will be—come out to meet Christ and to be ready by embracing the message of the cross.

The crucifixion of the love for this world, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh, as well as the idolatry of false and carnal leaders will be the main thrust. The harder teachings of Christ will be heralded along with the cleansing and purifying work of the Lord’s discipline. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24) will be the true body of Christ’s marching orders. For those who avoid the work of the cross—in the end they will not belong to Christ.

God’s people must be instructed in no uncertain terms how to bring to death the works of the flesh, the love of this world, and walk in the true righteousness of Christ—thus growing up into Christ and belonging to him. Unfortunately, many will be locked out of the wedding feast because they bypassed the work of the cross, as indicated in our parable of the ten maidens.

Undergirding the message of dying to the works of the flesh and character transformation will be sound doctrine that supports true discipleship and the lordship of Christ.

These messenger will walk in the true power of God with piercing messages and true testimonies that will confound and confront the established Christian institutions—those fellowships and organizations that cling to false doctrine and manmade methods that glory in denominational pride. Unity of the true body of Christ will be finally realized when the Church of Jesus Christ learns to follow and obey the true Christ supported by true bondservant leaders, those true messengers of Christ shouting out- come out and become ready. (See Ephesians 4:11-16.)

 Angels Sent to Uproot the Weeds

Jesus also saw another terrible situation for God’s people at the end-of-the-age. He explained how at the end times the devil insidiously in stealth would implant evil people among God’s people, in where these implants would look almost identical to a true Christian. (See Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43.)

In removing these evil implants, Christ explains by declaring, “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace” (Matthew 13:40-42).

House cleaning is coming for the body of Christ—a purging of the evil implants that have made their way into fellowship, leadership, and families; these noxious weeds will be exposed for who they truly are and be uprooted.

We must consider Biblical precedent in understanding how the angels of the Lord might accomplish the gathering and burning of all the evil people strewn within Christ’s kingdom, the body of Christ. As you recall, the angel of death made distinction between the first born male Egyptians and that of the first born males of God’s people held as slaves living amongst the Egyptians. Then, consider how Moses was directed by God to have the Israelites separate themselves from the other Jews who fell into rebellion with Korah and thus were destroyed.

The Apostle Peter was used by the Lord to draw out and destroy Ananiʹas and Sapphiʹra. This husband and wife teamed up to deceive Peter and as believers they allowed Satan fill their hearts to gain self-recognition. Or consider this account in the book of Acts, “On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last” (Acts 12:21-23).

Therefore, the angels of the Lord certainly know how to surgically destroy the wicked without harming the righteous, or protect the righteous and allow the evil to die—in the case of pestilence or natural disasters. The key is not being found in the camp of the wicked who pretend to be Christian, for there will soon be a distinction between the weeds and the wheat for all to see, leaving no neutral ground to stand upon.

No Neutral Ground—Come Out or be Locked Out

The message for each of us who have an ear to hear is to come out from amongst the false and love not the world. In the parable of the ten maidens Christ classified two distinct groups, five of the maidens were foolish and five were wise. The foolish were not of Christ-like character as depicted in the parable by not taking extra oil to brighten their lamps to see in the darkness.

The foolish maidens represent Christians who embrace the lies of the world and follow Christ in name only, not truly in love with Christ. They have one foot in church and the other in the world trying to use God to bless them with earthly things as they learn to befriend the world at the same time. They lust after false leaders who tell them what they want to hear and oppose sound doctrine and true servants of Christ who tell it like it is. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Again, referring back to the parable of the ten maidens, in the end the foolish asked the wise to share with them their extra oil—being turned down the foolish were forced to go out into the market place to buy extra oil and in the end were locked out of the marriage feast. Indeed, the message from the Holy Spirit to every believer today is come out or be locked out!

Persecution and Tribulation—For a Pure Bride

Part of that angelic work of separating the weeds for the wheat—to ready the true and screen out the false—will come in the form of persecution and tribulation. This type of pressure brought on by the world will wake up many and cause a rift between the genuine and the phony—persecution madness is already coming to a boil here in America.

With the increase persecution and trouble, the false will begin to show their true colors, just as Judas threw Christ and the disciples under the bus; in many cases, so will the false betray the true believer in the coming days. There must be a coming away from the love of this world and the cares of this live as well as the world’s deception, but also there must be a coming away from the false Christian. (See Matthew 24:9-14.)

God is in Control of the Chaos—That is for the True Believer

To repeat, the world is heading swiftly towards the day of reckoning, where unexplainable chaos and mayhem will be the norm. For the false Christian, the unbeliever, and the wicked—panic and fear will become pervasive and frequently overwhelming. However, for the tried and true believer, those who abide in Christ and obey will find themselves safe and at peace, riding out the coming torrent of mayhem like floating in the eye of a hurricane.

Discernment and working where God is working will become a major priority that all must master. Learning to let the chaos wake up the lost and cause the backslidden and disenfranchised believers to wake up and return to the fold at the right time is key to minimizing trouble and avoiding betrayal.

Too many times well-meaning immature Christians try to share the Gospel out of God’s timing and in the strong arm of the flesh. For the sold-out servant of Christ, all is in order and in His timing—for dominion belongs to God for ever and ever—see 1 Peter 5:6-11.

The Final Harvest through the Great Tribulation              

These birth pangs that we are now experiencing, full of chaos and persecution, are part of the shout-out from God to help wake up his sleeping church. There is need for the true body of Christ to become battle-ready to endure and work for lost souls throughout the Great Tribulation. The final harvest of a great multitude of souls will be facilitated during this coming extreme worldwide trouble.

“And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:14).

It is time to wake up and embrace the Lord’s discipline and become trained as his true servants—to be part of the true messengers of Christ heralding the good news of the coming kingdom.

View MC Chapel Fellowship associated message – A Sudden Shout to Come Out

Copyright © 2014 Charles Pretlow All rights reserved