In the case of Noah and his family, and Lot and his family, which are examples of a few being taken and the majority left, salvation or destruction depended on action taken at the time of the outpouring of wrath. Noah and his family entered the ark and were saved. Lot's family took separate actions at the point of wrath; some were saved and some were destroyed.

Therefore in these incidents the Lord Jesus is not speaking to us concerning whether or not we have received Him as Savior but the amount of "oil" we possess, our spiritual condition and resulting actions, at the time of His appearing. He warns: "In that day, he which shall be on the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:31,32).

It appears that the Christian religion has degenerated into a profession of certain points of theological truth, whereas the Divine salvation actually is a living experience with One who was raised from the dead. A great misunderstanding found throughout all church history is the description of the Divine salvation as another religion, the Christian religion, that functions as any of the other religions of the world. "Believe in the facts we present and you will go to Paradise when you die."

It is true today, and no doubt has always been true, that the elect whom the Lord has chosen will hear His voice and come out of the babylonish (manmade, man-centered, man-directed) confusion that calls itself "Christianity."

Christ does not often speak to us concerning our doctrine or theology, for they will not save us in the Day in which he is revealed. Rather, it is the kind of person we are, the way we behave, the things we do, that either bring us into His Presence or else alienate us from His Presence.

Only those who have Christ dwelling in them, who feed on His body and blood, who live by Him as He lives by the Father, who are filled with the Spirit, who are accustomed to obeying the Father, will be able to go to Christ in that hour (Matthew 25:10-12; John 6:54-57).

There is coming upon the world an age of horrors, a spiritual darkness greater than any other period of darkness and oppression that the earth has experienced in its history. The darkness already has begun and numerous Christians have yielded to its deceptions. The so-called "prosperity message" is one example of the current spiritual deception and darkness.

The Spirit seems to be testifying that soon a wave of severe persecution of the Christians will roll across the nations of the world. Much blood will be shed.

The authority and power given to the saints during the latter-rain revival will hold much of Satan's wickedness and fury in abeyance. Then God will lift the authority and power of the end-time testimony and the full force of lawlessness will be unleashed on the world (Revelation 11:7).

We Christians cannot comprehend the evil and terror that are at the doors. We never before—most of us—have been in a situation in which there was so much spiritual darkness that we were unable to pray, unable to remember passages of Scripture, unable to think clearly. This season soon is to fall upon us.

To be continued.