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The Great Ribulation

David Chilton

David Chilton

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PUBLISHERS PREFACE iX<br />

the earth from heaven above. He is @=wnt~ over all<br />

principality, power, might, and dominion. What are<br />

these? <strong>The</strong>y are demonic spirits. Paul wrote in this<br />

same epistle: “For we wrestle not against flesh and<br />

blood, but against principalities, against powers,<br />

against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against<br />

spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).<br />

God is in control. Jesus is in control. All things<br />

are in @inciple under Jesus’ feet. It is true that in histo~,<br />

evil beings still have power. We as Christ’s people<br />

wrestle spiritually against them. <strong>The</strong> war between<br />

good and evil, between right and wrong, goes<br />

on daily in the life of every Christian and in the life<br />

of every society. But, in principle, life is stronger than<br />

death, for Jesus’ resurrection has proven this. <strong>The</strong><br />

resurrection is more powerful than the cross. Light is<br />

more powerful than darkness (John 1:9). Good is<br />

more powerful than evil, for Christ now reigns from<br />

on high. <strong>The</strong> legacy of the “second Adam,” Jesus<br />

Christ, is more powerful in history than the legacy of<br />

the first Adam. Grace is more powerful than sin.<br />

You believe this, don’t you?<br />

Why Fear a “<strong>Great</strong> Tribulation”?<br />

Why, then, should Christians believe that some<br />

great tribulation faces them in the future – a tribtdation<br />

so great that nothing like it in history has ever<br />

occurred? Not all Christians believe that they will go<br />

through the tribulation, although post-tribulation<br />

premillennialist do. But if God reigns from on high,<br />

why should Christians expect anything worse than<br />

the “normal” holocausts of the twentieth century —

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