And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Luke 4:12)

Presumption, like covetousness, is a deceiver. We have the spectacle of the Lord's people running here and there, prophesying, praying for the sick, teaching the Scriptures, professing great professions, claiming "The Lord said this and the Lord said. You don't have to be sick, or suffer, or be poor, or wait for the Lord, or be denied anything you desire. If you don't get just what you want when you want it, it's your own fault. You don't have faith."

This is not faith in Christ, it is presumption.

We have been so filled with spiritual pride it will be difficult for us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and accept the rulership of those whom God places over us in the Kingdom of God. Satan will whisper in our ear, "All the Lord's people are holy. You do not have to obey anyone. Christ has set you free. You are a prophet (or prophetess) and God will speak to you personally."

Our "dead body" then will "lie in the street of Jerusalem." We have been overcome by spiritual pride and have, therefore, lost our power to bear witness of the Lord Jesus and to resist the flatteries of Antichrist.

Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem these are the murderers of the Lord's witnesses, of the prophets of God.

The fleshly, self-seeking preachers of today are telling us we do not have to prepare ourselves for the great tribulation because God loves us so much He will not allow us to suffer (unlike most of the Christians of past and present eras). The preachers are saying this so people will come to their churches and put more money in the offering. Their god is their belly.

The truth is, tribulation is a necessary part of the Christian experience. We enter the Kingdom of God through much tribulation. We are not to fear tribulation but we are to fear temptation. The extraordinary peril of the last days is not the great tribulation but the "hour of temptation" (Revelation 3:10).

Jesus did not advise us to pray that God would deliver us from tribulation but from temptation.

It is the hour of temptation we are to fear. It is the abounding of immorality, not tribulation, that will cause the love of the majority of the believers to grow cold.

Lawlessness, which is the spirit of Antichrist, is already filling the world and the Christian churches. God's people already are being overcome by the sins of the flesh, by the love of money, and by spiritual rebellion and pride. They are being overcome by sin while they are waiting to be delivered from tribulation.

Tribulation often is desirable to shape our character. Temptation and sin are never desirable and we are to pray to be delivered from them. Tribulation is the result, not the cause, of sin.

To be continued.