Through the Flames Read Online Free PDF

Sunday morning, and that’s just one day from now, so I’m going to be swamped.” He explained much of what they had been reading, about what was to come once the Antichrist signed a pact with Israel.
    “But do we even know when the Antichrist will come on the scene?” Lionel asked.
    “No, but many of the scholars I’ve read seem to think he would have already been here by the time of the Rapture.”
    “Then it might be someone we already like and trust?” Vicki said. “I never followed politics much, but I heard people saying they thought President Fitzhugh was a liar, and—”
    “I’d be very surprised if it was President Fitzhugh,” Bruce said. “This week I want you to be reading the passages I have outlined on this sheet. It tells some of the characteristics of the Antichrist, and one of them is that he has some sort of blood ties with the Roman Empire.”
    “So he’ll be an Italian?” Judd said.
    “Not necessarily, but something in his ancestry will tie him to Rome. I don’t believe that’s true of our president, and after you have read these passages you may have other reasons why you agree with me that it’s probably not him.”
    “Do you think he’s here now?” Vicki asked. “Is there somebody you suspect?”
    “I have my eye on an interesting world figure,” Bruce said. “But it would be an awful mistake for me to try to identify the Antichrist before I was sure. Be watching and listening to the news. If the Antichrist is not a well-known world figure already, he probably soon will be. He’s the one we’re going to have to fight for at least seven years if we’re going to survive until the Glorious Appearing.”
    “I want to survive,” Lionel said. “But I remember my mother saying something about only a quarter of the people on earth after the Rapture still being alive at the end of the Tribulation.”
    “That’s exactly what I believe the Bible teaches,” Bruce said.
    “Hold on a second,” Judd said. “The population is already a lot less since the Rapture. Only one out of four of those will still be here when Jesus comes back again?”
    “Because of the wars, plagues, famine, and disasters, yes,” Bruce said. “I don’t mean to scare you, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to look around this room and see that there are four of us here.”
    “And you’re saying,” Vicki said, “that only one of us is likely to be still alive in seven years?”
    “Seven years from the signing of the treaty between Antichrist and Israel, yes.”
    Vicki’s shoulders sagged, and she said just what Judd was thinking. “What’s the use then? What are we here for?”
    “That’s the exciting part,” Bruce said. “Our job is to win as many converts as possible before the end. Because when Jesus comes back to set up his thousand-year reign on earth, we’ll either be here waiting for him or we’ll come from heaven with him. Only those who come to him between the Rapture and the Millennium will reign with him.”
    “How many will that be?”
    “Some of the scholars I’m studying estimate that the multitude of believers the book of Revelation calls ‘numberless’ could be as high as a billion and a half.”
    “I want to stay alive and see that,” Vicki said.
    Bruce smiled a tired smile. “I want to stay alive and be part of winning them,” he said. “I’ll talk more about it Sunday. You’ll all be here, right?”
    “Right,” Judd said. “All of us. All four of us.”
    They heard a commotion outside: a squealing of bike tires, the dropping of a bike, the banging open of a door. Ryan rushed into the room, flushed, sweating, and—it appeared to Judd—just a little proud of himself. “Whew!” he said. “I made it!”
    Judd, in spite of how relieved he was, couldn’t help saying, “You’re late.”
    “I know, but I called Bruce. You told them, didn’t you, Bruce?” Bruce nodded. “I still get to stay in the house, right?”
    Judd nodded. “Just tell us