THE VALLEY OF DECISION PDF
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Joel 3:14
Do you believe we are living in the end-times?
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. {2} For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, {3} Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, {4} Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2 Timothy 3:1-4
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. {11} Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, {12} Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? {13} Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. {14} Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2 Peter 3:10-14
DECISION # 1 – MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF YOUR LIFE
Every decision we make affects our lives in some way. The decision we make about Jesus Christ is the most important decision that we will make in our life here on earth and is a choice that will have eternal consequences. The Day of the Lord’s return is drawing closer. If you have not accepted Jesus as Lord of your life and the perfect sacrifice for your disobedience and sins, we urge you to do so now.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 9:28
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. {10} For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. {11} For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Romans 10:9-11
Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh who lived a sinless life. When He spoke He spoke the truth and we have no reason to ever doubt or question Him.
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Hebrews 5:9
Making a decision to accept Jesus as our Lord obligates us to follow Him and to be obedient to his teachings. Jesus’ teachings were clear and plain, never complicated or misleading for the common people. His teachings were also spiritual, therefore, they were often misunderstood by the hard of heart. Jesus never asked for people to interpret Him, although he did ask people to believe in Him. The Apostle Paul warned the people in Bible times about deception and this warning has never been more important than it is at this hour.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. {4} For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
DECISION #2 – BELIEVE WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIS RETURN and WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY TEACHES ABOUT THE END-TIMES
There has been much in the news about the condition of our world and speculation concerning exactly when Jesus will come back for those who decided to follow Him. It is important for us to decide to believe what Jesus said about His return. We need to examine what Jesus said and compare it to what some modern Bible teachers say.
Believing what men teach about the return of Jesus Christ instead of believing what Jesus taught about His return is a big mistake that could cost us our lives or the lives of our families and maybe even our souls. Do not be deceived about the return of Jesus Christ and the end times. Let Jesus answer your questions for you.
Will Jesus Christ return before or after the Great Tribulation?
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: {30} And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. {31} And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:29-31
There is no doubt that Jesus answered that question in this passage. Are we ready to believe Jesus instead of interpreting Him?
Will Jesus Christ return twice, once (in a Secret Rapture), before the tribulation to take the Christians out of the world and second, after the tribulation to judge the wicked at the battle of Armageddon?
And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? {36} For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. {37} David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.
Mark 12:35-37
Jesus was quoting Psalm 110:1 and He clearly teaches the Son must remain at the right hand of the Father until the enemies of the Son are made His footstool. This would make the return of Jesus impossible before the great tribulation because the great tribulation will be the time when the enemies of Jesus Christ will be in the height of their power.
The enemies of Jesus Christ will not become his footstool until the Father gives Him the word that it is time for Him to return in power and crush his enemies at the battle of Armageddon.
We can read what will happen at that great battle.
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
Zechariah 14:12
Here is another Scripture that confirms this truth.
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; {20} And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: {21} Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Acts 3:19-21
Will Christians be taken out of the world before the unsaved?
Jesus did not teach that kind of separation. He said:
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. {41} Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. {42} Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Matthew 24:40-42
That passage is often used by modern Bible teachers to show the saved, Christians being separated (raptured) from the unsaved. However, Modern Bible teachers do not read the whole context of the passages that tell where the people are taken. In the beginning of the passage we read what they really are and why they are really taken. This also proves that the ones taken are NOT Christians.
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. {28} For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Matthew 24:27-28
Jesus taught there would definitely be a separation at the time of His return. If we read the parable in the passage in the gospel of Luke, we see clearly this is the separation, the taking away, of the unsaved from the saved (Christians) and not the other way around.
Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. {36} Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.{37} And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
Luke 17:35-37
The word eagle means ‘fowl’. What about those carcases? In the Greek language the word carcase means a corpse or dead body. In an Old Testament passage we see God using fowls as judgement.
The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. {26} And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
Deuteronomy 28:25-26
And again in the New Testament we see God using the fowls in judgment with carcasses.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; {18} That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Revelation 19:17-18
The fowls in the Matthew 24 and the Luke 17 passages are the same kind of fowls that carry out the judgment of God.
These people are not being taken (raptured) to the marriage supper of the Lamb, but to taken to be the main course for the birds of prey.
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Revelation 19:21
God’s pattern of judgment has always been to remove the wicked from the righteous. Scripture tells us that the wicked will be cut off and the righteous will remain in the land and at the coming of Christ and those that remain (the saved Christians) will be caught up. Jesus taught this same pattern.
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. {22} But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Proverbs 2:21-22
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Matthew 13:30
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: {48} Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. {49} So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, {50} And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:47-50
This is what will happen after the tribulation just like Jesus said and not before the tribulation as some modern Bible teachers teach.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. {16} For the Lord himself shall descend rom heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: {17} Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
The Bible does not teach a seven year time period between the secret rapture of the church and the judgment of God upon the wicked at the battle of Armageddon.
Jesus compared His return to the judgment of God that fell in the days of Noah and Lot.
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. {27} They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. {28} Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; {29} But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. {30} Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Luke 17:26-30
Jesus told us specifically how it would be the same.
Jesus tells us plainly that the deliverance of God’s own people and the judgment of the wicked took place on the SAME DAY.
He compared His return with both the days of Noah and the days of Lot with no seven year period between the judgment of the wicked and the deliverance and reward of God’s people.
Both will happen on the SAME DAY!
Should Christians worry about being here during the events of the Great Tribulation?
NO! Jesus said when we see the events of the Great Tribulation it would be a sign to His people that His return is near because Jesus is returning for His “bride” at the end of the Great Tribulation and not before it.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; {26} Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. {27} And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. {28} And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luke 21:25-28
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 5:9
The Bible does not teach the removal of saved Christians (rapture) will be secret and after that the world will wonder where all the people went as is portrayed in popular Christian fiction books and videos.
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:27
The return of the Lord will not be secret and invisible! That would be the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. He said everyone will see it.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7
Will we cause trouble and division if we don’t pray for a pre-trib rapture with our Christian friends?
Who do we worry about offending, Jesus or our Christian friends? Jesus said:
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
John 17:15
It will probably offend people if we don’t join them in their pre-trib rapture prayers, but if we do join them we will be praying against the will of our great High Priest and Intercessor, Jesus Christ Himself! The will of Jesus is clearly not to take the church out of the world in a secret rapture, but to enable the church to stand victorious until He returns for the church at the end of the Great Tribulation.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mark 13:13
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Revelation 21:7
- ACCEPT JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOR
- BELIEVE WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIS RETURN
- KEEP HIS WORDS AND YOU WILL RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
John 8:51
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Mark 8:38
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
John 12:48