Are you and your household prepared for the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord, or are you hopping up and down next to your pew, hoping for an unscriptural "rapture" to take place?

These last days are so demonized we no longer can rely on our traditions. We absolutely must read the Bible for ourselves, and then stick with the written Word of God, not with the ideas of people who have constructed a private interpretation of the Scriptures.

How do you feel about this?

You know, we need to think more about the importance of judgment in the end-time battle.

I have been reading for the third time This Present Darkness (Frank Peretti, Inspirational Press). Here is a terrific story, if you have never read it. It reminds us of the battle of the angels in the Book of Daniel, and of the Apostle Paul saying, "We would have come but Satan thwarted us."

As I closed the book and turned over to sleep, with angels and demons flying around in my mind, it seemed like the Lord spoke to me. He said, as near as I can remember, "Things will be different now."

As I pondered what the Lord meant by that, I seemed to get the picture that Christ holds such authority and power that all that transpires from this point forward will be held in His iron grasp.

This being the case, the battle is not one of power against power, human or angelic, but one of judgment and truth.

God the Father is ready to empower Michael and his angels at the Word of Jesus. But Jesus will not give that word until Antichrist has had the opportunity to reach into the very heavens and tear down part of the host. Every creature that is not solidly a part of Jesus Christ shall be shaken and removed from God's Presence, especially those who are preserving their own will.

The issue is not power. Christ has all power, and the Father responds to the Word of Christ. The issue is one of judgment and truth.

At the present time the Bride of the Lamb has filthy garments, spotted with worldliness, the many lusts and passions of the soul and flesh, and—worst of all—self-will and personal ambition. As long as these are present in us the Lord is unwilling to give the Word that will cleanse the world of sin.

Have you ever thought about the fact that God will use only one angel to put the chains on Satan himself?

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. (Revelation 20:1-3—NIV)

Not an army, not even a platoon, but one—only one!—angel comes down out of Heaven, seizes Satan, and binds him with a great chain.

To be continued.