From pages 89-90
Luke 21:34-36
"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so
that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore,
and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
"God has every intention for us to enjoy the life he has provided for us within this physicality. His will for us is prosperity inside fruitful lives filled
with joy and hope in the physical as well as the spiritual. But this reality we share together is a temporary existence, and Jesus warns us through his
disciples in verse thirty-four not to be "overcharged" or burdened with the cares of this life. It is the palest of shadows in comparison to the eternal reality
of our true life in him awaiting us the other side our change. If we let this physical life dominate our being, and do not keep our eyes (spiritually speaking)
on the return of Jesus and his promises, like a snare "it" (the Great tribulation, the subject of the Olivet Discourse) will arrive without our notice to engulf
us, just as the scripture informs us it will encompass the entire world. Outside obedience we will be caught in its grasp as clearly stated by verse thirty-six.
"Verse thirty-six defines the parameters for which he has provided us the means of avoiding the horrors of that time. Watching and praying. These
two functions, working in tandem, supply for us the way of escape. Keeping a vigilant watch for the second appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, and the performance of habitual prayer keeps is in communication and fellowship with the Father through him (the Spirit). As the Bride of Christ,
this is the equivalent of keeping ourselves chaste from the world. The Word tells us that we are in the world but not of it. We are to keep our eyes
(spiritually speaking) on the promise of life beyond this physical existence.
"The condition that constitutes worthiness to be accepted into the avenue of escape from the Great Tribulation is the removing ourselves from
fellowship with world. Unfortunately the majority of the modern Church stands guilty of association with the world at present. It is the result of living a
life tied to this physical world which it substitutes for the rich spiritual fellowship the Father wishes us to have with him through the Holy spirit. The
consequences for us doing so are clearly stated by the Word of God.
"Disobedience guarantees entrance into the Great tribulation Period and the burden of enduring the most prolific horrors in scale and intensity the
world has ever witnessed. There will be no "escape" from this time once it is entered. The only exit out of the Great Tribulation Period is the door of
physical death."