Second Coming ...

And just when you thought your life was at the end of its rope … Given the massive scenes of destruction described in Revelations that immediately precede the most anticipated event in history - the second coming of Christ; it is a miracle that anyone is alive and still waiting. From the loss of religious freedoms by well-intentioned moralists, to the coming of Satan as Christ – from the prohibition to follow the Bible, to the demands to worship as one is told, not as one believes – from the plagues that comes from God, and the destruction and demonic possessions that originate from Satan – now finally to the mental agony of knowing your past is laden with sin, but unable to find one in the present to ask forgiveness for: it all comes down to this – Jesus returns.

A small dark cloud appears in the sky about the size of a man’s hand, as it approaches the earth it becomes larger and larger. Scientists will no doubt attribute this event to a world-wide cataclysmic end to our existence. As it approaches it transforms from darkness to light, eventually becoming more brilliant than the sun. I imagine when He is finally near enough that every eye shall see Him, He will be seen large enough to encircle the Globe, surrounded by angels in the clouds around Him. What the wicked will hear as the most ominous sound in human history, the righteous will hear as the most beautiful music they could ever comprehend. The sound of love to one, is the sound of guilt to the other. The sounds of acceptance and belonging to the those who have maintained their allegiance to His word, is the sound of impending doom to those who have rejected it. Our brothers, wives, and children personally engaged in the premeditated act of taking our very lives to extinguish all remaining opposition to the world’s new leader Satan disguised as Christ, will break off from their deeds and realize quickly their error.

Terror begins to fill the hearts of those who have sworn their allegiance to the imposter Christ. They realize they are deceived, and even more realize their own willingness to participate in the deception. Those who presumed they had control over the lives and fates, and believed that nothing could touch them now, find themselves vulnerable in the presence of true power. They like Adam and Eve in the garden, feel exposed, naked, unable to mask their wickedness. And “self” cries out to hide from the expositor of its evil nature. They begin to think better to die, than to face the picture of infinite love with a heart that is devoid of all love. Great regret fills their minds, as they realize all the times that love reached out to them, and they refused it. Their unyielding addiction to self overwhelms them, and they begin to seek suicide as their answer, crying for the rocks and debris to fall on them and hide them from the light of love.

But as afraid as the wicked are, there are a few Charlatans who believe despite their recent past, and compromises with evil to stay alive, they will be forgiven and join with those who have remained faithful unto death. They approach Christ, and ask Him, why they are not ascending to greet Him in the clouds, for they have waited a long time too. And He reveals to them the emptiness of their words as He says … “Depart from me, for I know you not.” Their religious actions were as upright as any human eye could determine. They cast out demons, healed the sick, preached to the masses – and yet never had a true conversion of the heart. They never learned how to love, or what love means. For despite their outward appearances, they did not visit those in prison (the guilty). They felt no kinship with the homeless (the poor, and sometimes mentally ill). They had no sympathy on the sick when the cameras and lights were not around. In short, they were able to walk by every need – unaffected. If this is you today, you should ask Christ to change your heart so that you see “need” as He sees it; so that in this great and mighty day, you will not be a part of this crowd.

So many profess Christ in our world today, but do not allow Him to truly change who they are. They do not let Him root out the self-addiction we all suffer from, and as such are blind to the needs all around us. Without true change the heart does not break for the condition of our fellow man, it hardens against them. Without true reform, we are unmoved at the plight of others, and completely subsumed with our own fates. The mark of a Christian is the tear stains on his cheeks as he listens to the pain of his brother. The mark of a Christian is far from the 666 branded in the evil doers, but is the smile he offers when helping another’s needs even at the expense of his own. The mark of a Christian is the heart of Christ embedded within him. It is unnatural for humans to become like Christ, it takes an active action of Christ on our hearts and minds to become as He is. We must ask for it. We must allow it. Or we will never know the joy or the power of it in our lives today or in heaven.

We watch amazed from our positions around the globe, as He calls all the righteous dead to resurrection. There are no disembodied souls accompanying Him on His triumphant return to earth to claim His family and servants. There are angels with Him. There are those first fruits He took with Him from His first trip to earth when we arose on the third day. There is Enoch, who was the first human to so totally submit his own will to Christ, that he literally left earth to walk heavens streets since before the flood. There too is Elisha who was carried away on a chariot of fire. Moses who was called from the earth since long ago. These men and women were real humans, who lived real human lives, and some died real human deaths. But they were all invited to heaven before the main harvest, as a sampling of first fruits to present to God. But now is the time for the main harvesting of the world.

The remaining dead come forth from the last place on earth they died or were buried. They come forth from death, nowhere near as they went into it. They come renewed, recreated in perfection, back to the image their creator intended, fully restored in body, mind, and heart. They are the perfect age, perfect height, perfect weight. They can see for miles with their transformed eyes, and hear a pin drop at the edge of the galaxy with their renewed ears. Their hearts are beating rapidly as their king who they gave their last ounce of courage for has called them back into existence. Death, like sleep, has passed many years as if only a second. Their minds were just seconds ago occupied on their imminent demise and now are fully engaged at the spectacle of their ascension in to the clouds to be with their King. They have no knowledge of what has taken place since they died, nor how long it has been. It is as if their lives have never been interrupted by death, only a momentary pause, and then the scenery changed dramatically.

Now perfected in His image, their hearts, minds, and bodies are free from all traces of sin. They have no natural inclinations to do evil, or serve self. Those things have been finally, and fully eradicated from their existence. They are inclined to love. They are inclined to serve. And now, as the realization of what is happening to them comes fully to mind they turn and ask their accompanying guardian angels, where their loved ones are. I hope the answers do not break their hearts once again.

How merciful our God to allow the dead to sleep untouched by woe in our world that continues after they leave it. Those who believe the dead in Christ, never really die, have no concept of what it would be like to be perfect mind, heart, and soul, and watch the sin and evil of your loved ones be repeated again and again and again. No Saint, should even have to be exposed to the true nature of evil in those they care about around them. The revelation of true character would break their hearts over and over and over again. It is the mercy of God, to allow the dead to sleep without dreams of consciousness of any kind. When finally awakened in the great day of His coming, their lives will forever focus forward on the positive things around them, no more to contend with the burden of sin.

But on this day, death itself must yield up its harvest to our King. Adam and Eve arise, and every faithful servant of God since them to us who have fallen, wake up. They are caught up first says the scripture, then we which are alive and remain (Thessalonians 4:16). Finally it is our turn, our angels are revealed to us as in the twinkling of an eye (or perhaps better worded the blink of an eye), we too are transformed into the perfection God intended for us. Like the dead who have been raised, we are still unique, still distinctive, and still recognizable to those who knew us – but perfection is a long way from what we are today. The blemishes in our skin are gone, the discolorations in our hair gone, the cowlicks, the scraggly beards, the imperfect muscles, the over-abundance of fat cells, the imperfections in our senses, and perhaps most importantly – our minds are freed from the effects of sin both inherited and indulged in our lifetimes. We are truly, and finally free.

This alone, the final and full freedom from sin and all of its effects, and inclinations makes this day the greatest in the existence of mankind short the days that enabled it. Only the life of Christ in our world could mean more to us than the day of our freedom, for without His life, our day of freedom would never be. The Bible will have finally reached its fulfillment as reconciliation with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit will have been achieved. No more prisoner to self, or bound to serve it, we can walk into the throne room and bow and speak directly to the God of the Universe. This is beyond the imaginations of men. It is asking an ant to describe nuclear fusion in a common language, our minds like those of the ant, have been limited by our sinful condition so long, that in the present world there are no words to describe the meaning it will have to be face to face with God without fear, with only love.

Time itself is put on life support. As a concept, time will lose much significance when facing eternity with God. But there is still some events that take place in the measure of time. A prophet once wrote we would not immediately return to the city that same day. It would take as much as a week to get there. I imagine during this week, families will reunite. Lessons will be given to us about the remainder of the Universe, how it functions, how to travel it at the speed of thought. I imagine our work will be laid out in front of us as for the coming 1000 years we have a new duty to perform. I imagine there will be so much joy and information than even now, our feeble minds cannot begin to comprehend it all. But it will be.

Back on earth, the ascensions of both living and dead righteous complete. There remain a few tasks to complete. There were a small group of people who were raised at the second coming of Christ to witness it first-hand. These were not a privileged few, rather a cursed few. They were the priests who killed our Lord on His first trip here. They were raised to see His words fulfilled with their own eyes. And their lament was loud, and formidable. As with all the wicked who were seeking death, the final plague of hail in the fifty pound variety begins to fall and they are granted the deaths they seek. Accompanied with the first world-wide earthquake plus 10 on the Richter scale, islands moved out of the sea, coastlines fall into it. In short, nothing survives this final global ending event except Satan. The world will lie dormant and destroyed completely for the next 1000 years. Satan will be bound here for a 1000 year “time-out”. He will be alone with no-one to tempt chained to the desolation he is responsible for.

But for those who have experienced the transforming power of Christ on our lives; for those who have remained steadfast to His word and have not yielded or compromised with evil for the sake of preservation of their earthly existence – this will be the day we have waited long for. This will be the final end to our earthly existence. From this point forward, our nature, our bodies, and our very lives will return to the perfection God intended. From this point forward, our point of view, will be radically altered. But there is more still to come …

The End is Near ...

There is a singular truth about evil; it will implode over time, self-destruct, taking out everything else it can along with it. When we embrace evil in our lives, we embrace pain. We may not suffer the pain of evil in our immediate reality, but we destine ourselves to feel pain none the less. But the truth about evil is that it will not stop merely at pain, it must always and only, end in death. Those who embrace evil, forsaking the escape from it that Christ would gladly impart, will share the fate of evil. Evil would one day self-destruct. But our God in His infinite mercy has determined to cut the time of evil’s demise short. He interferes in world events, and course corrects the paths that man foolishly runs towards hastening his own destruction. God prevents us from killing ourselves, for He wishes to remove those who serve Him safely before evil can wreak its havoc fully on all those around it when it goes.

And so the belief that the “end of the world” will one day occur makes sense to many people. Non-believers in our God tend to think man will be the instrument of his own destruction. They would be right, were it not for God staying our hand. Between our short-sightedness and greed we are more than willing to poison the ground we live on, and the water we drink merely for the sake of earning a few extra dollars to spend. The debate over whether global warming is real is proof enough that greed can influence almost anyone from the masses who are taught to reject what is clearly in their day-to-day lives, to the scientists who are paid to disclaim any attempt at curtailing corporate profits – greed and sloth will prove our undoing, were it not for God. But God seems to have grander plans for the complete destruction of our planet than to let it suffer the consequences of its own actions. He wishes to answer the siren call of the Atheists for “proof” of His existence before all time ends. And so the world will not end with a whimper but with a bang, orchestrated by our God Himself.

Christ said … “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the son of man.” Many look at the story of Noah and see only an angry God bent on destroying the world, sorry about having created man given how evil man had become. But this thinking is influenced highly by the evil one. Look again more closely. God could have destroyed the entire world and ended man’s existence but He did not. He was careful to save the family of the man who still claimed to serve God. Noah was not perfect. Noah liked to drink. Noah was not chosen by God, Noah chose God. And so God responded to Noah, and saved not only Noah, but his wife, sons, and their wives; all for the sake of Noah. One of those sons God saved would almost immediately turn to evil again right after the flood. God knew this, but saved him anyway, not pre-judging what he would do, but giving him the opportunity to make different choices even if he would not. God saved sinners. He was not looking for perfection, just for someone who was willing to look for Him.

As for the rest of humanity, despite its evil, God did not immediately act upon the “anger” He was supposed to be feeling. I believe it more to be extreme sadness than extreme anger. Instead, God waited for Noah to build the ark, taking more than 120 years to complete the task. In this time, news of Noah’s work spread throughout the then known world, and all came to hear Noah preach about the coming end of the world as they knew it. Noah did not have logic, or history on his side, only God. Rain was not a phenomenon anyone could relate to, nor was oceans, nor was flooding, nor storms at all. No one had ever heard of such a thing. Yet Noah preached what they refused to believe. He taught truth regardless of him being mocked, derided, and you can bet accused of drinking all the time. Still God waited 120 years hoping against hope that man might take the time to repent and seek Him, but they did not.

I can almost hear the atheists in the crowd demanding for Noah to show proof that God existed. The angel guarding the gates of Eden with a fiery sword was apparently not enough. They needed more to believe, or so they said and so God heard them, and according to His plans, He brought animals from all over the world, two by two (for the unclean animals), and seven by seven (for the clean ones). In this God revealed his distinctions when it comes to dietary laws. He also used this animal parade from all over the world to show His miraculous power. It was not enough. For those who choose NOT to believe in God, there is never enough “proof” to make them see past the stubbornness of their decisions. The ark lacked a rudder, as God would guide the boat. The ark lacked a method of closing the door and insuring it was sealed, the angel of God himself would do that work. Yet still they did not believe. I imagine when the first few drops of rain fell, there were those still clinging to their stubborn scientifically based notions that rain could not exist; until there was little room on the top of the highest peaks, where man and beast tore at each other for the precious ground, trying to stay above the torrents that now surrounded them. Perhaps then they believed, and then they died.

Before we look forward to how our world will end, it is wise for us to learn the lessons from the last time it met with destruction. Several key points emerge: 1.) God was not looking for perfection, but was looking for those who sought to serve Him. 2.) Despite the doubters the world did end, and God was true to His patience and His word. 3.) Every attempt to save mankind was made before the end came; even miracles occurred, but even miracles are not enough for those who choose not to believe. For us to make it through the coming end time events and fulfillment of the last prophesies on earth, we must begin by renewing our commitment to submit our will to Christ, and follow Him wherever and however He leads us.

Noah’s story again teaches us the world did not end by its own decision or time lines. It ended at the hands of our God, through a mechanism no-one believed in. God set the timeline, no one else. God performed the miracles, no one else could. And God followed through on His word, both saving His servants, and destroying those who clung to evil. And so it shall be again according to our Lord. There are several prophesies in the Bible that have not seen their fulfillment as yet. Some of the most important are as follows … A.) The rise of the Anti-Christ in physical form, B.) The sealing of the 144,000 of God’s special servants, C.) The close of probation where the fates of all mankind are sealed in the books of heaven, D.) The seven last Plagues, E.) The second coming of Christ, F.) The binding of Satan to the earth for a thousand years alone, G.) The descending of the Holy City Heaven on what is now Jerusalem, H.) The raising of the wicked for Satan to marshal his troops for one last great Armageddon battle, I.) The panoply of history in front of all of mankind, J.) The final attack of the wicked on this Holy City, K.) The raining down of fire on the wicked consuming them all in time, and finally L.) the recreation of the world made new, with death, pain, and the former things passed away forever.

Items A-D above are nothing short of the supernatural and should have provided more than enough “proof” that God indeed does exist. But alas, those who choose not to believe may choose to continue not to believe. We can only hope that the revelation of these events will change their perspectives. Items E-L represent the extinction of evil, and are conducted long after the “proof” is beyond all questioning. As with those who fought for the highest peaks during the flood, if not already with God, the wicked have no hope left to them of surviving what will come. Noah’s story affirms this as well. In coming sections we will review each of these cataclysmic events, for now this overview will have to suffice.

When could all this begin? Some argue it must have to wait until some distant future when the world is “really” bad. Not so. It could have started in 1888 before we were even born. At that point all the other salient prophesies had been completed to mark the time of the end. Wars, rumors of wars, the sun going black, the stars falling, the moon turning to blood, even the cleansing of the sanctuary work started in 1844 – all of it was completed by 1888. God’s remnant message had emerged by then. Everything was ready … except one small thing … us. Our Christian leadership faced a choice; preach salvation by faith alone, or by faith and works. We chose the latter. We were wrong. And it has taken more than 120 years to correct our message of hope. But for those who argue this is how every generation has thought since Christ went back to heaven after His first trip, they are right. And they are wrong, in that no other generation has seen the 120 year waiting period expire before now. As it was in the days of Noah, 120 years of preaching, sound familiar. Deja vu.

Let us not forget that the message of our gospel is to free us from the pain of evil and sin right here and right now. Regardless of how close we are to the end of all things, we need our savior to do His work within us right here and right now. We long to be freed from the pain of sin, and know the freedom of His righteousness. And while our message will remain true for all time, we must not neglect the signs that we sit on the precipice of the end of all time as man has measured it. Soon, perhaps in the coming weeks, months, or years we may witness the end of all evil, and establishment of His kingdom forever and ever. This news should bring joy to our hearts and minds. This news is exciting. This news is exhilarating. If this news inspires fear within you, then you should return again to your knees, and reaffirm your commitment to serve our Lord and Savior. Allow Christ to begin to save you from evil, and you will join in the joy of His soon coming return. It cannot happen soon enough …