THE END TIMES - A TIME OF TROUBLE

We are presently standing on the threshold of a New Day! The end times, a time when the Church of the living God, the bride of Christ will soon be raptured.  The rapture, the second coming of Jesus Christ is near.  But even sooner, the Church will go through  a 'Baptism of suffering'! A BAPTISM SUCH AS WE HAVE NEVER BELIEVED POSSIBLE IN NORTH AMERICA AND THE FREE WORLD.

WHEN JESUS CHRIST RAPTURES THE CHURCH

We will then, take our place with those who have fought the battle and won, who have been diligent to the very end and made it through victoriously; triumphing over evil, unrighteousness and wickedness!  

We will come out of the "furnace of affliction" with not even the smell of fire on our persons, the ropes of bondage burned off and a testimony so powerful for our Lord  God that no one will be able to repudiate!

We will then be a part of that glorious church without spot and wrinkle that will be presented to our Heavenly Bridegroom by the Blessed Holy Spirit, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when Jesus Christ returns to rapture the church.

The Bible says, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready". (Rev. 19:7)

In other words, the bride was not ready until a certain point in time, when she decided to prepare for the marriage ceremony!             

THE LAODECIAN CHURCH IS NOT READY!

Jesus warned concerning the Seventh and Final Church Age. The word, Laodecian, means "The people rule or power to the people". How indicative of the age in which we live! The Democratic process means "government; by the people, of the people, and for the people". Even the so-called Socialistic and Communistic regimes espouse the doctrine of the proletariat, the Peoples' Republic, etc.

In the Church, we also see people ruling: popes, cardinals, and archbishops, ruling without the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is missing in many Protestant churches are they are  totally devoid of God's blessings as the people rule - electing, hiring and firing pastors and other church leaders in the democratic process!

WE ARE LIVING IN THE END TIMES

We are living in the end times, facing war, world conflict and distress and are awaiting the second coming of Jesus in the Rapture.

Jesus warned the final Church Age with these words, "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked". (Revelation 3:14-17)

The invitation, however, is always there. "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."

GOD SPOKE TO ME ~ WARN MY PEOPLE THE END TIMES ARE NEAR - TO PREPARE FOR A TIME OF TROUBLE

Approximately 1 year ago, the Lord God spoke to my heart, "Warn My people to prepare for a time of trouble", the beginning of the end times.

I began to preach powerful sermons  on end times, the rapture, the second coming of Jesus and  repentance. I preached powerful sermons on  faith, end-times and coming judgments, preparedness and balance in the Christian walk. God gave me  powerful sermons called 'Victory in Adversity'.  

In that message, I tell of the 3 times God gave me powerful sermons - a message for Canada and just recently, the fourth time, with the warning of 'End Times ~ Coming Troubles'. The first time God spoke to me with a message for our nation was in July 1967. I shared it by printed page in "The Cry of His Coming", and also over our national radio broadcast. The sermon  was called, "A SALUTE TO CANADA". We were celebrating our 100th birthday as a nation and God showed me Canada as a great nation with His rich blessings upon us. We were a nation of freedom, opportunity and plenty, but that if we did not repent of our sins and humble ourselves before God, we would lose our greatness, and much of God's favor.              

I quoted the scripture, "RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION, BUT SIN IS A REPROACH TO ANY PEOPLE." (Proverbs 14:34) Our magazine with the Centennial Year Message "A Salute to Canada" was sent to all the elected officials across Canada, civic officials (large cities),  provincial officials and national governments of our nation.

I immediately received many kind letters from government officials thanking me for the sermons. One person who responded very warmly and enthusiastically was the Justice Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

The years passed and the young Justice Minister became our 15th. Prime Minister.  Pierre Trudeau seemed to be leading the nation in a dangerous leftward trend. Some of his policies that caused deep concern were 1) abolition of capital punishment. 2) broadening of the Divorce Laws. 3) legalizing homosexuality, lesbianism, & beastiality. 4) legalizing abortion (not on demand). 5) seeking to legalize marijuana.

He called an election! GOD SPOKE TO MY HEART TO BRING ANOTHER MESSAGE TO THE NATION. IT WAS CALLED, 'MY MESSAGE TO PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU'.  

I sent it out in booklet form by the tens of thousands across Canada and other countries. A copy of the booklet as well as a cassette tape was sent to the mayor of every large town or city in Canada, the MLA in each province, every member of Parliament and all heads of major nations across the world, both free and Communist. A copy of the message was also sent to the Queen of England, the Pope of Rome and the Archbishop of Cantebury.

I received many complimentary and kind letters from leaders across the world. Only one person however, refused the cassette and booklet. Prime Minister Edward Heath of Great Britain, returned both with a covering letter stating that he could not accept them.

I was stunned that such a reaction should come from a Conservative PM of so-called Protestant England!        

I conferred with my wife Donna and our office manager, Margaret Graham. Sister Graham asked if I wanted to give her a letter to the Prime Minister of England! I said, "NO, I will wait for a more opportune time"! We didn't have to wait long. Within a few months, Edward Heath called a snap election to increase his seats in parliament and gain a majority. Everyone seemed to think that he would win, but I KNEW DIFFERENTLY!

I summoned Sister Graham into my office for a letter to Edward Heath. Here is the substance of that letter (which I still have on file)    

"IF YOU WILL REPENT OF YOUR SINS, GOD WILL FORGIVE YOU. However, if you do not repent and register this action in a letter to me, I know that you will be the recipient of God's judgment for your actions. Furthermore, I prophesy that you will not gain a majority in the forthcoming election, but you will in fact lose the election and go into oblivion politically. Your days of political power are numbered, Mr. Prime Minister.   
                                 God's Servant
                                 Max Solbrekken

THOUSANDS HEARD ME MAKE THE PUBLIC STATEMENT

I began to make known what God had shown me. In our crusades and privately as well, I shared the tremendous revelation of God's displeasure with those who had rejected the message I had delivered as His servant, to Government officials across the world.

My statement was that if Mr. Edward Heath did not lose that Election, they would never hear me preach again!  

THAT IS HOW CERTAIN I WAS OF MY ABILITY TO HEAR THE HOLY SPIRIT ~ GOD'S VOICE. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27)

As the election drew near and more and more people were reasonably sure that PM Edward Heath would gain the majority he was seeking. During my crusade in Trinidad, West Indies we heard the news.

Rev. Dennis White, who later became the Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies, was chauffeuring me around the Island. I had just spoken at the West Indies School of Theology, where he was president. I saw a small corner store and said, "Dennis, I wish to purchase a paper; I want to see how badly Mr. Heath has lost"! He replied, "Are you kidding, why would you make such a statement"?   

The headlines screamed: "POLITICAL UPSET. IT'S A CLIFF HANGER; IT'S A TIE." I said "Dennis, tomorrow, we will read, "Edward Heath loses the Election"! It happened exactly as I had stated! The date was February 28, 1974.

THE SERMON GOD GAVE ME ~ WHAT WAS IN THE MESSAGE?

Although it was called, 'My Message to Prime Minister Trudeau', it was directed at all government leaders instructing them to repent of their sins and let God rule in their lives and in their decisions as leaders.

I wrote of King Nebuchadnezzar, who became proud of his accomplishments and said, "Is not this Great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the Kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty". (Daniel 4:30)

GOD JUDGED HIM AND HE LOST HIS MIND.

For seven years, the great king wandered about like an animal and ate grass as an oxen until he acknowledged God. In the message, I told of KING HEROD, who made an oration. They said, "It is the voice of a god and not of a man". The scripture says, "He gave not God the glory and God smote him until he died eaten of worms"! (Acts 12:23)

When Prophet Samuel entered Bethlehem, THE CITY ELDERS trembled in fear of God: "...And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?" (Sam. 16:4) Oh, how government officials need to tremble before the servants of God again, in order to bring back righteousness and sanity to the nations. 

St. Paul spoke to KING AGRIPPA and challenged him with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. The scripture says that Agrippa cried out, "...Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian". (Acts 26:28) Again, when Paul spoke to FELIX the Governor, he trembled because Paul spoke of "Righteousness, temperance and judgment to come"! (Acts 24:25)

The Bible says, "Righteousness exalteth a nation and sin is a reproach to any people". (Proverbs 14:24) Again, God's Word declares, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn". (Proverbs 29:2) "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord". (Psalms 33:12)

CANADA TURN AROUND

It happened in the spring of 1978, in Kelowna, British Columbia. I was awakened at 8:00 AM, the morning after a powerful meeting. The voice of God had been speaking to my heart while I was sleeping. The message of God was already in my mind, totally comprehendible and ready to deliver.

I awakened with the words, "Canada Turn Around, Canada Turn Around, CANADA COME BACK TO GOD," whirling around in my Spirit. So powerful was this impression that I leaped out of bed, grabbed my Bible and note paper, and wrote down the message which I knew God wanted me to deliver across the nation and around the world.

Canada turn around, come back to your senses! Come back to God and righteousness, decency and reality!  

I began to preach sermons, declare and dispense this message of end times, God, Rapture, Holy Spirit and repentance across the nation; in crusades, by printed material, on television and radio. I must confess that the impact of that crusade was stunted somewhat by two things.

WHAT WAS THAT MESSAGE?

It was a warning from God's Word for everyone to repent of their sins and begin to live Godly lives in the light of the scriptures and to begin to seek God with great intensity, honesty, sincerity and urgency.

Everyone should know that we are living in the final stages of the last days, end time of God's grace upon the earth and that our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ is coming again real soon!

The Bible says, "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chron. 7:14)   

God spells out directions for a Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit,   Heaven sent revival! Here is the recipe: If God's people will do four things, God  promises to hear our prayers and bring healing to our Land. What are these four things? Are they pinnacles of spiritual growth, never to be reached? No, God would not ask us to do what we could not attain in the natural. He is not unreasonable. The Bible says, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool". (Isaiah 1:18)

WE CAN DO THESE FOUR THINGS:

1. Humble Ourselves

2. Pray

3. Seek God's Face

4. Turn from our wicked ways

The Bible says, "God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble". 

We must look to God for help - not to ourselves, government officials, business leaders, educators or others. Jesus said, "Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you". (Matt. 6:33)

We can and must HUMBLE ourselves and get rid of all dirty, filthy, sinful pride as we reach out to love everyone regardless of skin color, racial background, educational or social standing or financial worth.

And the scriptural way to humble ourselves is to fast. We must realize that we cannot save ourselves or heal the hearts of people in our strength. God is our source. He is the Saviour & Deliverer!

Let us begin to PRAY to God on a regular basis as we praise Him for His love and grace.  God wants us to make our petitions known to Him FIRST before we ask our fellowmen for help.

King Asa was diseased in his feet and went to the physicians for help instead of praying to the Lord. The Bible says, "Asa sought the help of the physicians and died". (2 Chronicles  16:12) It is not wrong to seek help of physicians so long as you have sought God first and have laid out your petition to Him first.

It is God who rules in the lives of men. Let us not forget that. That is why St. Paul stated, "Pray without ceasing". (1 Thessalonians  5:17)   What did he mean? Stay in an attitude of prayer. Keep your lines of communication open between God and yourself!

ONLY GOD CAN HEAL OUR LAND!

We can and must pray and go even further. Let us SEEK GOD with all our hearts. In order to seek God, we must walk close enough to Him to see His face and feel His power.

To seek God means to desire His presence. To want to be near Him and share all our intimate and urgent needs with Him. And to spend time praising and thanking Him for all His goodness to us!

By God's grace, let us all TURN AWAY from the lusts of the flesh and the sins of the spirit and conduct ourselves as true followers of Christ in all humility and righteousness. We have His promise that when we, the Church, have done these things, then God will hear our prayers and answer in great demonstration of Holy Ghost power.

The Bible says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteousness man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon". (Isaiah 55:7)

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" (2 Cor. 6:14)

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:5)

TURN YOUR FACE TO THE WALL

When King Hezekiah became ill, the prophet came to him with a message, "...Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live". (2 Kings 20:1) The scriptures tell us that King Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and "wept sore" (v.3) as he repented and asked for mercy. God heard his prayer and gave him an additional fifteen years of life.

Whatever problem you may have, God is greater than all the power of the devil and sin. He is greater than sickness, disease, fear and poverty! Praise God forever!

The solution comes when we turn our faces to the wall and ask Jesus to intervene! His Word states, "And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me". (Ps. 50:15)  

It's high time to surrender to the Lord's Word and will. "...turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations." (Ezek. 14:6) "...and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and True God." (1 Thess 1:9)

The Bible says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return (TURN) unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon". (Isa. 55:7)

SHOWDOWN AT SUNSET

God's people had corrupted themselves with idol worship from the greatest to the least. Only ELIJAH and a faithful silent group of 7,000 who had not bowed their knees to Baal.

The prophet Elijah was grieved in his heart and brought down God's judgment upon that wicked nation in the form of a drought. After 3 1/2 years, ELIJAH showed himself and COMMANDED all the false prophets to gather on Mount Carmel for a showdown.

This was his challenge, "...How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him".  

God's Word says, "My people have committed two evils, They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water". (Jer. 2:13)

God - in His great wisdom and compassion - marveled at the foolishness of His people. It's almost ludicrous that a man who knew God would forsake Him, turn away from the true God and be deceived by the devil into worshipping dead idols. This was the case with Solomon when he became old! (1 Kings 11:1-10)

How anyone could leave the Church, the Gospel and the goodness of God, with it's fountain of living water and be turned to dumb idols, sinful practices, lustful pleasures, greed and the doctrine of works, I WILL NEVER KNOW! For these are no more than broken cisterns that can hold no water, NO PEACE, NO JOY, NO FORGIVENESS, NO HEALING AND NO PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE!

The Bible says, "...In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore". (Ps. 16:11)

The answers to man's perplexing questions and the riddles of life, are found only through Jesus Christ our Lord and in His Divinely Inspired and Sacred Word, The Bible.  On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."

A TIME OF TROUBLE

We are living in the End Times - The rapture of the church is near.  A large segment of the Christian community seems to be living under an illusion that the rapture of the church will take place before anyone tastes even a little bit of difficulty and tribulation!

LET ME SAY CLEARLY THAT THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE FALLACY AND UNSCRIPTURAL TEACHING!

At the onset however, let me clarify that I believe in a pre tribulation rapture and that the Church of Jesus Christ WILL NOT go through the Great Tribulation, written of in the Book of Revelation.  In fact, there are three Tribulation Periods spoken of in the Bible.

THE FIRST TRIBULATION - The first tribulation began on the day of Pentecost and the devil has been tribulating and persecuting the Church ever since.  The first tribulation period will conclude when the last gentile is saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ returns in the first stage of His coming.

THE SECOND TRIBULATION - The second tribulation is that period of seven years known as "Jacob's Troubles" or "Daniels 70th Week" and the second tribulation is also known as the "Great Tribulation".  The second tribulation will begin the moment Christ's bride is taken away from this earth and will conclude just before the beginning of "The Millennial Reign of Christ".  This will be a time when God out pours His wrath on the Ant-Christ and a wicked world.

THE THIRD TRIBULATION - The third tribulation begins when the feet of Jesus Christ stand on the Mount of Olives in the second stage of His return. (Zechariah 14:4).  The resurrected glorified Son of God and Savior will then mount a white horse (Revelation 19:11) and ride out to the Valley of Jehosophat, to conquer the Anti-Christ.  This I refer to as The Anti-Christ's Tribulation.

Jesus Christ will destroy the Anti-Christ with the breath his mouth.