The Day of Wrath and Revelation

In my Pentecostal upbringing, I was taught that upon Christ’s second coming judgment would be brought upon the world. Yet Scripture is very clear: Judgment will begin first in the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17). Jesus also points to the judgment of the church when he says that many shall come to Him in that day confessing Jesus as Lord, prophesying in His name, casting out demons in His name, and doing signs and wonders in His name only to hear Him say, “Away from me you workers of lawlessness for I never knew you (Matt. 7:23).” The Lord began to really highlight these Scriptures to me. We know that no one in the world calls Jesus “Lord,” or casts out demons in His name - He’s not talking to the world; He’s talking to the church. 

Jesus is coming to judge these lawless ones that are in the church. Paul says that these lawless ones perform lying signs and wonders, and Jesus Himself even said they’ll be doing it in His name. This is the great falling away of the church, not the world. How can the world fall away when they never knew the truth? It’s time to realize He is speaking about the church! You see, the church is asleep and these false prophets crept in unnoticed (Jude 1:3). 

We’ve had so many warnings: Jesus warned us, Jude and the Apostle Paul too. It’s happening now. It’s here. The mystery of the Lawless one is now revealed and it’s in the church. If you ask most Christians what the gospel is, they’ll say that it is the story of Jesus dying on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, but Paul says that the Gospel is the power of God and His righteousness revealed (Rom. 1:16). The true Gospel is about the divine attributes of God being revealed in us.  When God’s righteousness is being revealed it brings transformation in us- it destroys our old, fleshly attributes and allows us to take on God’s divine nature. The process of true revelation breaks off those things that cause us to fall away, as we go from faith to faith.

When Christ returns, He is looking for those in His church who look like Him, and those who have suppressed His image from being revealed in them will be rejected and told “depart from me.” In that day Paul says that Christ is going to be glorified in His saints, and that Christ is going to be revealed through His people that have His Gospel. But to those who preach a different Gospel, those who preach a different Jesus, those who suppressed the truth, those who do lying signs and wonders, the wrath of God will come upon them in that day.
In the Lord’s mercy, He is releasing a prophetic move in the spirit of Elijah to pull the remnant out of the dead religious system. This remnant will do amazing things and prepare the nations for the harvest. The remnant will be those who know there must be more, those who leave dead religion and prepare for the glory of the Lord that will be released. It really comes down to a hunger for Him and surrendering all to find Christ.

The Lord is coming to judge religion. God is done with people who don't want to learn, and don't want to change. The Early Church told us when this would happen and it’s now. Everything that we're seeing now in the earth is showing us the signs of the times if we have eyes to see. If Christ is revealed in you, who can harm you? Just like Jesus would so easily escape when the religious leaders of His day would try to seize Him, He wants us as the true church to operate in that kind of faith. Jesus wants to find true faith when He returns, and it’s those with true faith who will learn the revelation of the Word to manifest Christ instead of suppress Him. It’s time to put aside our fleshly nature and step into sonship so that we are among those who are prepared to participate in this final move of God. 

-Apostle Michael Petro