A Question on the Words; "Trial" or "Tribulation"

A question was posed to me in a comment, that question was "how do I know when I am going through a trial or a tribulation." My answer was the following;

Unbelievers go through trials and tribulations as well as believers.

Matthew 5:45 "so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

Definition of trial: "Examination by a test; experiment; as in chemistry and metallurgy."

Definition of tribulation: "a cause of great trouble or suffering."

Trials are events that test us, with believers a test shows us ourselves so that we will confess to be cleansed causing a spiritual growth spurt. God already knows what we are but in order for us to become aware of our flaws and sinful heart attitudes, we must see our own responses and reactions in the midst of a trial. This is when the real us emerges when we are being tested.

Tribulation is more severe testing to show us our weaknesses and to strengthen us through the experience.

Romans 8:28 "28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Trials and tribulation are common in life for everyone. Those who are unsaved are allowed to encounter them to learn their need to repent and trust in Christ. For the believer, they are for leading us to confession to be cleansed for growing in holiness.

1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The Great Tribulation is for the purpose of bringing the Jews back to God. God began with the Jews, abandoned them to go on to the Gentiles and will return to the Jews during the Great Tribulation.

Two-thirds of the Jews will be destroyed and the one-third remaining will trust in Christ and take the gospel to the rest of the world toward the end of the tribulation.

The nation of Israel will remain a nation the entire time, God will fight for her in miraculous ways without the help of any other country of the world. The Lord wants the world to see the miracles. Israel will be saved trusting in Christ because of those miraculous protections for the remaining one-third.

Some Jews will be martyred during this time with the promise of great reward in heaven for having died for Christ and His gospel.

The key here is it doesn't really matter what we are going through, when we hang onto Christ He will go through with us if we are believers, but those who are not born again will have no help from Him unless they confess their sinfulness and trust in Christ.

Isaiah 1:15-16 " 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!…"

Matthew 7:21-23

"“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

There are many people in these last days who believe they are good people going to heaven who were not good but only thought they were good. God said no one is good without Him.

Good people are not going to heaven, only forgiven people who trust in Christ by faith will go to heaven.

When we trust in what Christ did for us on that cross, dying to pay the penalty for our sin, He will change us into an entirely different person, we no longer think the same way we did before, we are a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new [a]creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Ephesians 2:10

"10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

Those who have become born again no longer think the same way they did before, they no longer walk a sinful lifestyle anymore. They are sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise as a guarantee of their inheritance, they are signed, sealed, and delivered.

Ephesians 1:13-15 "…13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory. 15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,…"

Ephesians 2:5-6 "…5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, "

1 Peter 4

Keep Fervent in Your Love

4 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human lusts, but for the will of God.

3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of indecent behavior, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.

4 In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in the same excesses of debauchery, and they slander you;

5 but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

6 For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as people, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God."

Hallelujah!

The Rapture for Those Who are Born Again

God takes the believer out in the rapture When He is about to bring His wrath upon the earth. We are not appointed to wrath, He will rescue His children from His final wrath. We are living in times of the devil's wrath, that is different, we all have trials because of him.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10

…8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him."

The Mistranslation of the Word "Stripes"

The word "stripes" in the following passage, is actually singular in the original language. The stripe is referring to the single blow from the Father. For a moment in time, God the Father abandoned Christ on the cross because He could not look at the sin that was laid upon Him, for the world.

1 Peter 2:24 "who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed."

God is not nearly as concerned about our physical well-being as He is about our spiritual, which will take us to either heaven or hell depending on whether or not we have trusted in Christ.

When Christ said; "Father forgive them they know not what they do, He was asking the Father to extend forgiveness to the world but each individual had to repent to be born again. The world had the opportunity but would not be saved unless they wanted Christ to change them into a new creation.

The world that dwells in the church today wants us to believe everyone is forgiven therefore we ought to forgive anyone even if they are not repentant. This is nothing more than psychology that has inculcated itself within the church to corrupt God's way of restoring relationships.

Relationships are not genuinely healed by just letting sin pass. Relationships are healed by someone confessing their sin and the other party forgiving. These are two sides of the same coin, they cannot be separated.

The reason so many people within the apostate church believe everyone is going to heaven and that God just winks at sin is because of this false psychological teaching that says; "just let it go." This is the devil's way, he wants people to believe they are being kind by allowing others to remain in sin without repentance because it then keeps them from repenting to God.

Sin is so terrible in God's eyes that someone had to die to pay for it. No human being can die for their own sin because it had to be the blood of the Perfect Lamb shed in order to pay for our sin. Even the Father had to look away from the sin that was laid upon Christ on that cross. Would it make any sense that God would not care about sin when He allowed His own Son to be killed because of it? NO!!!

God never took sin lightly nor does He now. He hates it, it cannot be in His presence, which is why we have to trust in Christ and be changed by Him.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

When we have been changed by Christ we no longer love the sin we used to do, we love the things of Christ. When someone falsely says: "My sin is no big deal because I am under the blood" are trampling on Christ all over again, even lying against Him.

We are trapped in this sinful flesh which is why we are to crucify it daily. We are to ignore our feelings, our inclinations that do not honor Christ to follow His principles and commands.

Our Spirit is born again, a new creation but our flesh is weak. Notice when we die our body does not go with us, it's because it is corrupted. Only our spirit lives beyond this flesh, it either goes to heaven because it has been changed into the likeness of Christ, having been changed into a new creation by Him, or it goes to hell for those who refused to be changed by Christ through rejecting Him.

If you have been playing the "religion" game, in which you attend church, say all the right things but remain rebellious against Him and His Word, you have never been born again until you repent.

Don't be one of those who hear these terrible words as you approach the gates of heaven;

Matthew 7:21–23

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"

Imagine coming before the Lord to give an account and hearing that you are going to hell when you thought you were going to heaven. I cannot think of anything more frightening.

Casual Thinking can be a Clue about Attitude

Just about anyone I know would dress up to go before the president of the United States even if they didn't like him. When we go to worship dressed casually this is the way we see the worship itself, "casually" (relaxed and unconcerned) lacking in debt of character as well as reverence. Dressing in clothes befitting the worship of the King of Kings seems appropriate to me.

So many people in our country have used the excuse since the 1970's that God doesn't care about our clothing. If they knew their Bible they would see that we will be dressed in fine white linen when we are taken to heaven. Other passages show us that God does care about our clothing styles.

Zechariah 3:4

So the angel said to those standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes!" Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes."

Luke 15:22

"But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;"

When the prodigal son returned he was accepted back into the family through an expression of a gift of proper clothing.

When some people dress to go to an office party they wear their best, but when they come to worship the King of Kings they dress as though they are getting ready to do housework.

Worship is not a ritual we do to get it out of the way so we can get on with our normal life. Worship is a whole-person mentality based on coming before the King of Kings.

Our clothing style reflects our inner attitude. Dressing too fancy to be seen by others is just as bad as dressing down in worn-out clothes that we would wear working in the garden, this is laziness toward our worship and our relationship with God.

It is interesting that the "dress down" mentality began in the 1970s when all more's began to break down. Diligence in everything became a reason to mock.

Those who say dressing up a little for worship is too much focused on clothing are the same people who will fight to defend their dress-down choice. It is the "dress down" crowd who are too focused on clothes. They want to be comfortable without any standards, so they attempt to mock those who choose to dress in a diligent and respectful way for the worship of the King.

Yes, I said it, it is disrespect for the worship of the King or the Lord's Supper to come dressed in clothing that demonstrates laziness.

Of course, there will be those who ask the question; "what about those who don't have better clothes", the truth is everyone has enough money to have one decent and respectful set of clothing for worship. Even in the days of the depression, every woman had a dress for church gatherings that she only wore to town and to worship. All men had a suit and every child had something nice to wear to worship. If there was someone who did not have the clothing no one cared. If someone did not have decent clothing for worship no one judge them or acted superior to them, at least in authentic believing gatherings.

The people who will defend their ripped jeans at gathering paid a lot of money for those silly things. Yes, I said that too, just recently I spoke to a teenager who paid $80 for a pair of bleached-out ripped jeans. Call me silly, but I cannot and will not accept these jeans as normal and rational. My point is this if someone can pay that much money for ripped jeans they can pay less than that for decent clothing to meet to worship the King of Kings.

I don't normally judge anyone's clothing except when I see that it comes from a place of laziness, laziness in clothing is evidence of laziness in worship, a sort of "fulfilling an obligation" or "dressing for the people" in style rather than to come to worship the King of Kings.

I keep repeating that phrase; "worship of the King of Kings" because that is what we are doing when we meet with other believers in worship.

Not every meeting of believers is going to be a time to dress a little more formally. Sometimes we have potlucks or picnics that require us to dress less formally, however, this is not the worship time of the gathering.

Why do we hold worship in such low regard as to treat it so casually? For many centuries people dressed appropriately for the occasions that were special to them. Now everywhere we go we see people in restaurants as casually as they are in worship, perhaps this is a sign of the end-times lack of respect for others and for God.

Perhaps "fashion" that is the dress-down fashion of our day takes priority over honor for God, or honor for others. I do not judge those who dress down for gatherings but I do see the culture as a whole as lacking in honor and respect as an overall lifestyle. The clothing is just a clue and reflective of our modern attitude toward God.

I am old enough to remember the days when it was considered rude to go visiting someone or shopping in our work clothes and worse if we showed up at worship in them when everyone knew we had better.

Today's younger generation focuses on fashion and doing as they please far more than they do on others, even God.

The following passage is referring to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in which the man who came to the banquet without proper attire, that is without the covering of the blood of the Lamb, was thrown into hell.

Matthew 22:11-14 11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’

14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Our clothing does not tell everything about us but it can present a clue about our inner attitude, one of either diligence and respect for the worship of God, or conversely the lack of respect for what is Holy.

The person in the above passage thought he was going to get into heaven another way, other than through Christ. His attire was reflective of his attitude about Christ. He was not covered in the blood of Jesus, he attempted to get into heaven through his own merits.

While this analogy is not a perfect one for this subject it might be applied to attitudes other than salvation. Many people attempt to deny the principles of God to follow their own sinful hearts and still call themselves Christian.

Our outer appearance often is a display of our inner heart. Our culture is for the most part in rebellion against the ways of God. Our clothing styles reflect this in an obvious way. Clothing has become casual, even ratty and sensual, lacking in respect and honor.

The ripped jeans mentality is an expression of defiance against what would be normal and rational forms of dress, even what would be pleasing to God.

The more we see the 2 Timothy 3 mentality emerging in these last days the more we will see it in clothing choices deteriorating too.

The fashion industry is in rebellion against God, many styles these days are reflective of the revolt and defiance of those who create this clothing.

Five decades ago jeans that are going for $80 in the stores would have been thrown in the trash as useless.

In our days of staunch rebellion and lack of good sense, we see outlandish things in clothing styles. The worse the rebellion the more clothing styles become "ragingly insane."

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

All activities and clothing styles are going to reflect the last day's rebellion against the ways of God. Rebellion is up in our faces now all the time. The more we serve the Lord the more the culture fights against us and God.

The culture as a whole says there are many ways to God and we can dress, play and act any way we please without restraint, all in direct opposition to God's Holy Word.

We cannot expect this to change, we are living in the last days before the church is removed and the tribulation begins. The world has thrown off all Godly principles and restraints but will see a time of greater restraint and oppression it has ever seen.

Often when we defy God to remain free from morals and standards He sends a leader who will oppress the people far more than they thought they would have been oppressed by God's standards, which are designed to help and protect us.

The antichrist will promise total freedom and wealth to those who will follow him only to be met with so great misery that the people will wish to die but will not be able to do so.

The antichrists of the world promise all kinds of freedom and wealth but his way always brings immense pain, hate, and devastation.

Satan is the father of lies, he will promise you great things only to bring worse trials.

If you have not trusted in Christ so that your eyes will be opened to the lies and distortions of the devil, please do so today. The times of great tribulation are coming soon, once this begins it will be too late to escape it.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed.

8 Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders,

10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved.

11 For this reason God will send upon them ]a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,

12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness."

Trials Benefit to the Born Again Believer

All circumstances and all trials have a purpose for the born-again believer.

Romans 8:28

"28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

James 1:12

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."

James 1:2-8 "2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Let Your No be No and your Yes be Yes!

It is alright to explain something to a friend to be clear and avoid misunderstandings, however when someone is manipulating by asking "why" we are not obligated to answer the challenge. When a child asks why you will not do something or why you will not let them do something it is a ploy to wear you down to eventually get what they want. Adults do this too from time to time, they want to know why you will not do something so they can argue why it's not a good reason.

When we have boundaries according to God's Word we need not explain to anyone "why" we have that boundary or why we "choose" to have that boundary. Even if we have reasons that are merely our own choices it is alright to keep those boundaries. No one is justified in judging our personal choices.

It is not godly to allow others to dictate our course, they cannot have the knowledge of what God wants for us or our inner spiritual needs.

Often our culture pressures us to do what they do and be like them and even offended if we choose another way. There have been many times I was judged for not doing something others wanted me to do. I felt the pressure of others to do what they wanted but at the same time had a check in my Spirit that it was not God's will for me.

It was a relief and joy when God showed me that I do not have to do what others want unless Christ in me was telling me the same things they were asking.

Psalm 143:10

"Teach me to do Your will,

For You are my God;

Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground."

Galatians 5:18

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."

Acts 15:28

“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:"

The ideas others have of what we should do have no value unless the Holy Spirit is the One telling us the same thing. If our friend comes to confirm what God has already told us, then their idea is from the Holy Spirit and is confirmation of what God has said to us.

There is such freedom in Christ that we are not under the control of anyone other than the Holy Spirit. The cultural mandates that press in on us continually will have no influence on us.

We do not feel the pressure when we are free to say no. The culture's responses to our boundaries have no effect when we are free in the Lord from their pressures. Any negative response from the culture for not going with them bounces off as if like a feather hitting us, we feel nothing at all.

May the Lord give us compassion for the needs of others but discernment to know when something is merely a desire and not a need.

When we drop the pressure from the culture to be seen as a good person according to their idea of good, we can move freely in the power of the Holy Spirit without guilt.

We are not led by the culture, but by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:14

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."

Christ Must Change our Hearts

"Ephesians 2:10

"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.:

God must change our hearts and does so in direct proportions to how often we confess our sins and flaws. The more we confess to be cleansed by Him the more we grow in holiness.

The more we try to fix ourselves the less we grow. Pride is involved in thinking we can fix ourselves by following all the rules.

When Christ changes us we do obey Him but it isn't because we work hard to follow rules, it's because our heart has been changed by Him and we love to obey Him.

The harder we work to be what we should be in the flesh the more prideful we become and the less effective in changing in any real sense. This is why we see so many "Christians" suddenly revert back to their old selves when they become weary of working in the flesh.

When we submit to Christ He does all the work in us and the change is permanent because our heart is changed not just our superficial actions.

Want to become more holy with each new lesson, you will do it by asking Christ to change you.