“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Mattew 24:14 NIV)

Much of the American church seems to adhere to an end-times gospel that they have developed, knowingly or not, on their own. “Well, you know, everything is going to get worse and worse, and then the end will come.” It’s simple and easy to remember, so it does have that going for it. But it also seems to ignore Matthew 24:14 (quoted earlier).

It is the nature of evil to prevail in the world if good people do nothing. Evil ignores justice and looks out only for its own. How has the Bride made herself ready if she ignores the growth of evil around her – especially when Jesus has already given her the power to stand against that evil?

You do understand that the Bride has that power, right? Her relationship with her Beloved gives her the right to call upon the blood covenant she has with her Betrothed. Is there any name in heaven or on earth that wields any power against the name of Jesus? His death and resurrection seated Him high above all principalities and powers. Every knee must bow to Him and acknowledge his Lordship. Thus the war the church is engaged in is fought first in the spiritual realms; and only after the spiritual battle is won will the results manifest on earth.

Since the church has this unique relationship with the King of Kings, how is it that evil has been allowed to grow to this point in our world?

Where are the shepherds who can rightly discern the times and seasons, and feed the flock accordingly? Where is the power that Jesus gave the church? One sees it occasionally, but in many churches that power is not welcome. How will the church fulfill the Great Commission without that power? Words will take us only so far.

We are in the age of Iron and Clay described in Daniel’s dream. The church still has much work to do before the Bride has prepared herself for the wedding. Her best path is to fight the spiritual battles ahead with her Beloved. The natural will fall into place as the spiritual battles are won.

This article was originally published by the WND News Center.

This post originally appeared on WND News Center.