#Peirasmos #ccot #Messiah #Yeshua End #Jesussaves #MillennialKingdom

P-E-I-R-A-S-M-O-S
                                                                    By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                                  January 14,, 2016
    “STUDY to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH,” 2 Timothy 2:15.
 
INTRODUCTION
    I first sent this study out as a word study in 2011.  Even as plain as I tried to make it , some readers simply did not understand the point of the study.  The Lord has laid it on my heart to revise the study, and this time make the point of the study glaringly clear.    I will leave it up to our readers to decide if my purpose in sending this study out again has been accomplished…..
    Dear readers, the Scriptural doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, which is “the blessed hope’ of every true believer [Titus 2:11-15], is under attack today as never before.  And by whom?  By many today in the churches and ranks of Christianity, who claim to be “Christians,” yet who don’t hesitate to corrupt, deny, and ignore the clear statements of God’s Word, which conflict with what they want to believe.  Read Jude 3-4. 
DEFINITION
     There are several completely different Greek words in the New Testament, all of which are translated by the English words, “tempt, temptation, temptations, tempted, tempter, tempteth, tempting.”  Most of our readers should be aware that these words normally mean “to entice or lure.”  However, such IS NOT the meaning of the Greek word,  “peirasmos.” 
      This particular Greek word, “peirasmos,” which is translated as “temptation,” “temptations,  and “try,”  occurs 21 times in the New Testament, so it is not a long  tedious study for those who seriously study their Bibles.  The actual literal meaning of the word is, “to experiment; to test, try, or prove the fidelity, integrity, virtue, holiness, and constancy, of those being “tested,”  by bringing upon them, or allowing to come upon them, severe TROUBLE, TRIALS, AFFLICTIONS, AND TRIBULATION. .  See Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, pages 498-499, Strong’s No. 3986.
A GREEK WORD STUDY
    It is now my intention to set before our readers each of the 21 places in God’s Word, where this Greek word, “peirasmos” occurs.  In doing this, it should be easy for any reader to understand that this word explicitly  refers to the future Tribulation period several times, clearly prophesied  to come in “the last days,” which will bring this present “evil world” [aion…age…Galatians 1:4] to an end, and will “test” those LEFT BEHIND on the earth following the rapture.
    Following are the actual Scripture references where the word, “peirasmos,” occurs.  The study of each of these Scriptures should be enlightening to every true
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believer who is watching for “the blessed hope” of our Lord’s return to resurrect and rapture His New Covenant Church and people to glory, Titus 2:11-15. 
    [1]   The first occurrence of this word in the New Testament is found in the model prayer which the Lord gave to His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13.  In verse 13, the Lord explicitily instructed His disciples to pray, “And lead us not into temptation [peirasmos…tribulation], but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”  
    So, in the very first use of this word in the New Testament, the Lord Himself is instructing His discriples to pray that they would not enter into the Tribulation period.  Now why would the Lord Jesus instruct His disciples to pray “after this manner” if He had no intention of answering their prayers?   Does the Lord God hear the prayers of His people, and does He answer our prayers?  Read Proverbs 15:29,  James 5:16, and many simil.ar Scriptures.
    [2]  The second place where the word, “peirasmos,” occurs in the inspired Word is found in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation [peirasmos…Tribulation]: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is waek.” 
    Again, in this second occurrence, the Lord God is admonishing those listening to Him, to “watch and pray,” in order to avoid entering into the Tribulation period.  Christ, in this passage, emphasized that the “spirit” of men and women is “willing” to be saved, but the “flesh” is weak.   Folks, only true  believers, those truly saved, will be taken to glory in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture.  Unsaved “religionists” in the churches will be LEFT BEHIND.  Read 2 Corinthians 13:5  and 2 Peter 1:10, and come to Christ Jesus by faith, with your whole heart and soul, Ephesians 2:8-10.  .
    [3]   The third occurrence of this word is found in Mark’s gospel and  is worded  almost the same as in Matthew’s gospel, “Watch ye and pray, that ye enter not into temptation [peirasmos…tribulation].  The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak,” Mark 14:38. Being worded almost exactly the same, it obviously carries the same meaning.  Make certain you are a true believer, if you want to escape the terrible Tribulation  period that is coming upon the earth.              
    [4]  The fourth occurrence of this word in the Scriptures is in connection with the “temptation” of the Lord Jesus Christ by Satan, as recorded in Luke’s gospel, “And when the devil had ended all the temptation [peirasmos….tribulation], he departed from Him for a season,” Luke 4:13. 
    This makes it evident that our precious Savior and Lord was willing to go through everything that Satan himself could bring upon  Him, in order that we living today might be saved.  How very much the Lord loves those who will come to Him by faith for salvation. 
    [5]  The fifth occurrence of this word in the Scriptures is found in Luke 8:13, where the Lord Jesus is explaining the Parable of the Sower to His disciples, “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation [peirasmos…tribulation] fall away.”
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    Folks, isn’t it obvious that the churches and the ranks of Christianity today are filled with just such people?  Many today loudly  “profess” their so-called “faith,” yet in their daily lives deny and corrupt the Scriptures.  Read the Lord’s letter to the church at Laodicea, Revelation 3:14-22.  True discipleship involves more than just mouthing a “profession.”  True discipleship involves being  willing  to take up the cross of Christ on a daily basis, Luke 9:23. 
    [6]  The sixth time “peirasmos” occurs in the Scriptures is found in Luke’s account of the model prayer, “And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.  And lead us not into temptation [peirasmos…tribulation]; but deliver us from evil,” Luke 11:4. 
  Here again we have the Lord Himself urging His disciples to pray that they would be kept from entering into the Tribulation period.  And yet some readers appear to think that the Lord is going to ignore such prayers on the part of His people.  Sic! 
    [7]  In the seventh occurrence of this word in the Scriptures, the Lord is commending His disciples for having continued with Him in the trials and tribulations which He suffered during His personal ministry, “Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations [peirasmos…tribulation],” Luke 22:28. 
    [8]  The eighth time this word occurs in the Bible is where the Lord had gone to the Mount of Olives just before being arrested and led away to be crucified.  On that occasion the Lord once again admonished His disciples, “And when He was at the place, He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation [peirasmos…tribulation],” Luke 22:40. 
    [9]  The ninth time this word occurs in the New Testament is in Luke 22:46, “And said unto them, Why sleep ye?  Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation [peirasmos…tribulation].  In this Scripture the Lord Jesus  obviously reprimanded His disciples for sleeping when they should have been  praying.  The reprimand on that occasion was due to them literally going to sleep, while Christ was praying in agony of soul as He faced persecution, suffering, and the cross.  If Christ was willing to suffer and die for us at Calvary, is it too much for Him to ask us to stay spiritually awake for Him as we live in this present evil world?  Well…???
    [10]   The occasion for this tenth time the word “peirasmos” is found in the Scriptures, is when the Apostle Paul was at Miletus,  preaching to the elders of the church from Ephesus.  Paul reminded them that he had been spiritually awake from the very day he had come into Asia, “Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations [peirasmos…tribulations…testings], which befell me by the lying in wait of
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the Jews,” Acts 20:19.
     Those preachers in the churches and the ranks of Christianity today, who are telling people that if they will just receive Christ as their Savior, all of their problems will be solved, and they can float into Heaven on a flowery bed of ease, ARE LYING TO THE PEOPLE.  Christ Jesus is not only calling men and women, boys and girls, to believe on Him, but to take up their cross and  willingly suffer for Him that others might be saved, Phillipians 1:29.  How many of our readers are willing to do this?  Paul was, and did!  Thank God for Paul and all others who are willing to follow Paul’s example.  Glory to God! 
   [11-12]  Those of our readers who are pondering over this last question,
need not be overly concerned.  For the inspired Word assures us that the Lord God will not allow any trial or testing to come upon us that we are not able to bear. “There hath no temptation [peirasmos…tribulation…testing] taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation [peirasmos…tribulation…testing] also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it,” 1 Corinthians 10:13. 
    This inspired Scripture just plainly states that the Lord God does not and will not allow His Church and His people to be “tested, tried, troubled,” beyond what we are able to bear.  Notice that the passage explicitly states that God makes a way to escape.  Compare Luke 21:36. 
    [13]  The thirteenth time this word occurs in the Scriptures is where the Apostle Paul speaks of his own “thorn in the flesh.”  “And my temptation [peirasmos…testing…tribulation] which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus,” Galatians 4:14.
    In this passage the Apostle Paul is referring to the many trials and tribulations which he personally experienced during his ministry for the Lord Jesus, at least one of which left him with “a thorn in the flesh.”  Compare 2 Corinthians 11:24-26.  Thank God for the sacrificial spirit of the Apostle Paul in order that the Gentiles might have the gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus.   This includes us living today!   Glory to God!                
    [14]   The fourteenth time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the inspired Word is where the Apostle Paul is instructing the young preacher,
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Timothy,    to warn God’s people about lusting after the riches and wealth of this present world, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation  [peirasmos…testing…trial…tribulation] and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and  perdition,” 1 Timothy 6:9.
   Dear readers, isn’t it glaringly obvious that most of the troubles in the world today are the result of GREEDY people lusting after money?   Sadly, this same wicked spirit of GREED has infiltrated the churches and the ranks of Christianity today.  Take heed!  And beware! 
    [15]  The fifteenth time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the Bible is where the inspired writer in Hebrews 3:8 refers to Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness after coming out of Egypt.  “…harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation [peirasmos..tribulation] in the wilderness:” 
    This passage makes it quite clear that the unbelieving Israelites, having escaped from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, then “hardened their
hearts” against the truth of God’s Word during their forty years wilderness wanderings.  There is no question in my mind that all incorrigible sinners left on this earth following the resurrection and Pre-tribulation rapture will do exactly the same.  Many of those LEFT BEHIND at the rapture will “harden their hearts” against the Lord and the truth of His Word, and will ultimately pay the supreme price of eternal death and damnation for their unbelief and rejection of Him who is the only way of salvation, John 14:6; Acts 4:12.  How very depraved and wicked is the human heart which is set against God!  
    [16]   The sixteenth time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the New Testament is in James 1:2, where James writes, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [peirasmos..testings; tribulation].”  Why would James make such a statement to his people; the Jews?   Because James knew that their entering into “the peirasmos” would be the means of their ultimate turning to the Lord for salvation and purification as God’s chosen people, and James described this process in 1:1-11.   
     Folks, what the Tribulation period is going to do for the true “Israel of God” is burn off the dross, and bring them out of the fires of the Tribulation as a purified people.  Compare Zechariah 13:7-9.  Glory to God!
    [17]   The seventeenth time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the Bible is
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found in James 1:12, “Blessed is the man [compare Psalm 1:1-2] that endureth temptation [peirasmos..trial; tribulation]: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.” 
    In this passage, we see the true “Israel of God” [the “remnant”] emerging from the Tribulation period, triumphant over Satan, the anti-christ, hell, and death, as the purified and sanctified chosen people of God.   Their “sin nature” will have been removed, and they will live in their redeemed natural bodies from that time forth as an example to all nations, as the Lord God originally chose them for that purpose.  Compare Exodus 19:5-6, Psalm 33:12, and 135:4.
    [18]   The eighteenth time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the Scriptures is in 1 Peter 1:6, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations [peirsasmos..testings; tribulations].” 
     Notice that this inspired book is explicitly addressed to “…the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of
the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied,” 1 Peter 1:1-2. 
    I have no idea why so many New Covenant believers have missed this
truth,, other than their lack of serious Bible study, but the first epistle of Peter was specifically written to the Jewish people.  In fact, the Greek text literally says, “to the sojourners of the dispersion.” In other words, to the Jewish people who had been driven from their land and homes and scattered into other parts of the world, exactly as the prophecies of God’s Word said that they would be. And ever since the Assyrian armies invaded the northern kingdom of Israel, many of the Jewish people have been undergoing terrible suffering and trials [peirasmos].
     The Jews first underwent such trials under the Assyrians, then as time passed  under the Babylonians, then under the Romans Empire, and still later in history under the Ottoman Turks, and yes, whether some like it or not, under the British Mandate.  The British from 1917 to 1947 were not as sweet and gentle to the “wandering Jews” as some would have people believe.  However, none of these trials was as bad as the Jewish Holocaust under Adolph Hitler and his Nazi regime.  The holocaust began in 1933
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after Hitler declared himself the “dictator” of Germany. He was elected to office and rose to power blaming all the troubles of the Great Depression in Europe on the Jewish people.  So in 1933, after entrenching  himself in power as  the sole ruler of Germany, he turned to direct persecution of the Jewish people.  The Jewish Holocaust went on for 12 years from 1933 to 1945, and is described in detail in Psalm 33  through Psalm 45.
    These twelve Psalms , each Psalm correlating with its year number, one year for each of the twelve tribes of Israel,  describe the Jewish Holocaust in great detail if our readers will take the time to seriously STUDY them. 
     And tragically, unbelieving Israel’s time of suffering was not over with the end of the Holocaust.  Today, the Jewish people are suffering at the hands of the Muslims [the seed of Ishmael], and this suffering will only increase during the coming Tribulation period.   
    [19]   The nineteenth time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the Bible is found in 1 Peter 4:12, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try [peirasmos] you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” 
    This inspired Scripture again confirms that this first epistle written by Peter  was written to and for the Jewish people, just as addressed in 1 Peter 1:1.  Folks, it is unbelieving Israel who rejected and crucified their Messiah, Savior, Lord, and King, and after 2,000 years of suffering and trials, as a people and nation they remain in obstinate unbelief and rejection of Christ. .  Therefore, the Lord God is going to bring upon them Daniel’s 70th Week; the terrible Tribulation period [peirasmos], Daniel 9:24; Matthew 24:21. 
    In this inspired Scripture, Israel and the unbelieving Jewish people are explicitly told that they are going to face a “fiery trial.”   That this “trial” will occur during the first half of the Tribulation is beyond question.  It is during the first half of the Tribulation that all humanity LEFT BEHIND on the earth following the rapture will be subjected to “a fiery trial” which will “try” [peirasmos…trial; tribulation] every person on earth to see whether they will call upon and follow the Lord, or whether they will give  themselves over to Satan and the anti-christ.  Revelation 7:9-17 assures us that a great multitude will turn to the Lord.  But many of the people on earth at that time will still follow Satan and the anti-christ right into eternal damnation.  Read Revelation 9:20-21.     
    [20]  The twentieth time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the NewTestament is in 2 Peter 2:9, “The :Lord knoweith how to deliver the
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godly out of temptations [peirasmos…trials; tribulation], and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”  “20” is the Bible number signifyhing “redemption” all through the inspiried Word.  See Romans 8:20. 
    This inspired Scripture explicitly points out that “the godly” will be delivered out of our present time of “testings” [peirasmos…trials; tribulations] for “the Lord knoweth how” to bring about such deliverance, and He knows how to “reserve the unjust” [unjustified; unbelieving; lost; wicked] for the day of judgment [the Tribulation] to be punished.”  Glory!  Praise the Lord!  Hallelujah!  
    And this bring us to the 21st time the word “peirasmos” occurs in the New Testament, and what does it say…??
    [21]   In this 21st occurrence of the word “peirasmos,” we find the Lord Jesus Christ Himself explicitly stating to His church and New Covenant people, “Because thou hast kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation [peirasmos…trial; tribulation] which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth,” Revelation 3:10. 
    In this Scripture the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is speaking directly to His church and New Covenant believing children, and to all those who have “hearing ears,” 3:13.  This is an absolute promise of the Lord Jesus Himself that no true New Covenant believer will enter into the “peirasmos” that is reserved for “the unjust,” 2 Peter 2:9; Nahum 1:2.  All true believers will be “kept from” that terrible time of “testing” [peirasmos] which will come upon humanity during the first half of the Tribulation.  Praise the Lord!  Give glory to our Lord Jesus!  Hallelujah!  What a Savior!  Praise God!
     Our readers should carefully note that “21” is the Bible number signifying “the covering of sin; bringing an end to sin,” and also this number is associated with the 21 judgments of the Tribulation.  The Tribulation is the time when the Lord God is going to bring an end to sin by putting down all rebellion among mankind by literally destroying all incorrigible sinners from off the face of the earth as He establishes His Kingdom on the earth in literal fulfillment of Matthew 6:10.  I suggest that those readers, saved or still lost in your unbelief, who don’t want to believe this, carefully read the plain direct statement the Lord God made to Isaiah in Isaiah 13:9-11.  Those readers who have convinced themselves that God and Christ are only loving “wimps” are very soon
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going to come to a terrifying awakening.   Glory to God!  Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord Jesus Christ!
A Scriptural and Logical Analysis
    Having now set all 21 places where the word “peirasmos” occurs before our readers, I want to also point out a brief analysis of how these Scriptures are used…..  Study these Scriptures for yourself! 
    6 times the Lord God used this word to warn people to do what is necessary to avoid entering into the Tribulation [peirasmos].  Matthew 6:13, 26:41, Mark 14:38, Luke 11:4, 22:40, and 22:46. 
    2 times this word is used when speaking of the Lord’s own sufferings.  Luke 4:13 and 22:28. 
    6 times this word is used in referring to the sufferings of Israel, both past and future.  Luke 8:13, Hebrews 3:8, James 1:2, 1:12, 1 Peter 1:6, and 4:12. 
    2 times this word is used in referring to the sufferings of the Apostle Paul.  Significantly, Paul is a type of the “remnant” of Israel.  Acts 20:19 and Galatians 4:14. 
    5 times the word is used in reference to New Covenant believers, both as to our present trials, and also to our wonderful “escape” at the rapture.  1 Corinthians 10:13 [twice], 1 Timothy 6:9, 2 Peter 2:9, Revelation 3:10. 
Conclusion
   Folks, Christ Himself repeatedly warned His disciples and others to pray that they would not enter into the Tribulation [peirasmos] Yet some preachers, “prophecy teachers,” and Christians today would have us believe that Christ urged people to pray for something He had no intention of granting to them.  Sic!  
    The very last use of this word in the New Testament is the promise of Christ Himself to His Church and New Covenant “overcomers,”  that He will “keep thee from the peirasmos” which will come on the unbelieving lost world  LEFT BEHIND at the Pre-tribulation Rapture.   Folks, this passage in Revelation 3:10 is a very plain, easily understood, direct statement of our Lord.  It does not need “interpreted.”  It simply needs BELIEVED.
    Now do our readers believe what the Lord promised?  Or, is the Lord you are serving A BALD FACED LIAR?  You may hem and haw around, and refuse to answer the question, and even rail against me and accuse me of being a “false teacher” and Scripture perverter, as some have done, but you WILL  answer this question, either now or when you
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stand  face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself someday real soon.  Folks, you had better think about it, and come up with the RIGHT ANSWER right now while you still have the opportunity to do so.  The Lord God, who knows the hearts of all mankind, knows that I give this warning in the love of Christ for my brothers and sisters in Christ, and for all who read this message.  
     May the Lord God add His gracious blessings to this study is my prayer.
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    Dear beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
    You are receiving this message today only by the grace of God.  My computer has been down, totally useless for nearly a month. Only by the grace of God did the Lord lay on my heart what I was to do to make my computer work at all again.  It truly needs some repairs, but I have no funds to spare for the problem.  If any reader has sent me an email in the past month, your email was not ignored or unappreciated.  I just haven’t been able to get to my emails to answer them.  
    During this same period of time, I have been suffering with acute rheumatoid arthritis and loss of good vision.  Due to my loss of vision, please forgive any errors I have failed to correct in this study.  I can hardly see the computer screen as I write. 
    On the 11th of January I underwent lasar eye surgery to remove cataracts from my right eye which were blurring my vision.  The surgery went well on my right eye, and I can already see better in it.  Similar surgery is scheduled for my left eye on the 25th of January.  I covet your prayers in my behalf.
    And yes, as usual, permission is granted to any true believer or Bible believing Christian ministry to reproduce this study to share with others, or to quote from it in context as written. 
    Thank each reader whose heart has been touched by our Lord to send a gift to assist with this Bible study ministry.  May our gracious Lord bless your gifts a hundredfold back into your bosom.  Thank you so much!
    Please address all comments, questions, and correspondence to Pastor F. M. Riley, Last Call Gospel Ministry, 184 County Road 108, Harrisburg, Missouri 65256.  Or I can still be reached at fmr7sngn@centurylink.net 
    God bless you all is my prayer. 
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