We Christians have different views on the manner of Christ’s return, concerning the Rapture, Tribulation, Second Coming, Antichrist, Babylon, wars, etc. Many, many areas of the last days have been discussed by those interested in our Lord’s return. Even those who don’t believe He will return have thrown their two cents in.

I too have thrown my hat into the ring on occasion and stated what I believe concerning the last days, so I’ll not rehash my beliefs at this time.

After all the dust has settled and we’ve all had our say, the bottom line is; Jesus Christ is going to return for His Church, judge the world, and bring the apple of His eye, Israel, back to Himself.

I for one feel strongly about what I believe the Scriptures say concerning the last days, as I’m sure others do too. It is great that these issues are being discussed and anticipated. We need to talk about them and share what we know with each other and a dying world that is walking straight into judgement.

The most terrifying thing to me is seeing the shadows of the Tribulation looming upon us, and at the same time, witnessing mankind going about his business with seemingly no concern of what lies ahead.

The beggar on the street corner walks around with his sign saying, “Jesus is coming,” and people walk by giving it little thought. We drive down the highway and there on the side of the road is a sign someone erected saying, “Jesus is coming.” Do we give it much thought?

If the doctor told us today that we would be dead in a month, we would be frantically looking for the hope of more life in every corner. If our child’s recital is tonight, we would be getting properly dressed this afternoon to attend. If our belly reminds us we are hungry, we would be preparing something to eat. The alarm clock goes off in the morning. We prepare for work. We are always preparing for something.

Almighty God is sounding the alarm to a world gone mad that judgment day is coming, and the world sleeps. He is using His saints to inform others of events called the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and everything else in between. He has opened the valves to release many signs that the Tribulation is near. At first it is only a trickle, then a small stream as they pour through the pipes, bringing with them God’s judgment. When the judgment arrives, the valves will be completely open and the wrath of God will fall full force upon this world. But yet, the world sleeps.

I thank God that I, as part of the Church, will not be here. Will you?

I remember so vividly smelling the coffee my parents were brewing each morning from my bedroom. Yep, it was coffee. When my wife is frying bacon, I don’t have to see it to know it is bacon. I can smell it, and it sure is good. My sense of smell told me each time there would be coffee. There would be bacon.

There is a stink in this world that can’t be missed. It is called corruption. It’s everywhere. Do you smell it? Yes, it is there, and it may taste good in the mouth, but it is going to sour in the belly of those who are ignoring the dark clouds of judgment.

We look with our eyes, but do we see? Jesus often said, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Are we listening?

Jesus told us that when the world becomes like it was in the days of Noah and Lot, it would be one sign among many that His coming is nigh. If you read closely what the world was like in the days of Noah and Lot, you can see the days in which we live match it like two perfectly matched pieces of a puzzle. Jesus is coming.

There are more Old Testament signs for Christ second return than for His first. Jesus spoke more about His second return than His death. He chastised the Pharisees for not seeing the signs of their day for His first coming. The bottom line is; we aren’t doing much better seeing the signs for His second coming. We need to wake up and smell the coffee and the bacon. Breakfast will be ready soon.

The first major sign of Christ’s first coming was His virgin birth. The first major sign for His second coming is another birth; the birth of the Israel as a nation on May 14, 1948. Are we paying attention?

How close is our Lord’s return? I have no idea. I may be here for the Rapture, and I may not, but one thing is certain. The signs are all around us for an event (Tribulation) that takes place after the Rapture. We, as Christians, certainly do not want anyone to face judgment. So we need to be telling the Good News of Jesus Christ; the salvation He offers and His return.

Most will not listen, but there will be some who will listen and be saved. God delays His coming for one reason; “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

The bottom line is that Jesus does not want to judge anyone, but any who do not come to Him by faith, He will judge.

Grant Phillips

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” Isaiah 5:20-21 (NIV)

It is alarming to see, on a daily basis, the comments from people that are in direct conflict with what God says in His Word, the Bible. These comments can be read in newspapers, magazines, and web sites by the multiplied dozens. For example, when reading comments from people on social media sites, I am stupefied by what comes from the minds of ordinary folks. I ask myself, “Do they really think that? What is wrong?”

People who are not homosexual will still defend the sin of homosexuality. Those who give birth instead of opting for an abortion will yet defend the so called right of others to abort (murder) their children from the womb of the mother. Those who have no desire to be the opposite sex will still defend and applaud the “bravery” of those who go for a “sex change.”

These are only three examples of hundreds of sins that we as a society accept as normal and none of God’s business. Many in society now don’t bother with saying it is none of God’s business. That was yesterday. Today, they have taken a new route of approval. They insist that God is in complete approval of their actions, and the rest of us are just cold hearted and need to shut up and wise up.

People I know, who I would have never dreamed, who are kindred, go along with the tripe that society is spewing out every single day. Many are faithful church attenders.

All this reminded me of Satan’s temptation of Eve. Adam and Eve were good people. Think about it. They didn’t hang out at the local saloon. There weren’t any saloons. The world was perfect. They had no sin. They were in perfect agreement with God’s Word up to that point. They didn’t call evil good and good evil. They didn’t choose darkness for light and light for darkness. They didn’t put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. They were not the neighbors from hell. They were really good people, but then something happened. Eve was deceived because she listened to Satan.

Society today is doing the same thing that Eve did in the Garden of Eden. We are listening to Satan, but we are not like Eve; that is, without sin. We are full of sin, and we joyfully want to hear what he has to say because he is saying what we want to hear.

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NIV)

The conversation between Satan and Eve is found in Genesis three beginning at verse one.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Genesis 3:1-7 (NIV)

Satan has gone fishing. First, he baits the hook and casts the line out into the water. The fish is attracted by the bait and takes a nibble. At the right time, the fish is hooked. Once it is reeled in, it becomes dinner. Let’s see how this happened.

Satan’s ultimate goal is to get Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So he baits the hook.

Satan: Has God said you can’t eat of any tree in the garden?

Eve: God said we can eat of any tree except the one in the middle of the garden. We can’t even touch it, or we’ll die.

Now he has her thinking about it. The hook has been baited. The line has been cast. So he comes back with;

Satan: Oh, you won’t die! Look at it! It’s beautiful, and I’ll bet it is delicious!

Eve: It sure looks good and yummy. It won’t hurt to just taste it (nibble).

Satan sets the hook and reels her in.

Eve: Uh Oh! I don’t feel right. Why, I’m naked! I can’t walk around like this in public, knowing I’m the only one buck naked! Oh Adam!  Sweetie! Taste this.

Adam: “Yes Dear.”

Satan first caused doubt. Then he introduced desire. Then desire led to denial of the truth. Then participation with sin caused death.

God didn’t say they could not touch the fruit of the tree. (By the way, the Bible says absolutely nothing about the fruit being an apple. We don’t know what it was.) It is not a sin to be tempted. Apparently, they could look at it and touch it. He told them to not eat of the fruit. Eating the fruit was sin because it was rebellion against God’s Word.

We today are falling under the same hypnotic spell that Eve was pulled into by Satan. We first question God’s Word. We add our two cents to it. Finally, the fruit of sin is so desirable; we simply reject what He has to say since it interferes with our desires. We ignore the Word because it convicts us. Out of sight, out of mind.

Let us go back to Satan and Eve’s conversation and notice one more thing. Look in verse five. Satan tells Eve that their eyes will be opened and they will be like God, knowing good and evil. There is the crux of the problem.

We today do not want anyone telling us what we can or cannot do. We want to be our own god. We think we are gods, knowing good and evil. We think we know more than God and He, if He actually exists, is so full of love, He would never really do anything anyway. He just cries and smiles all the time and we can deal with that.

Folks, that is exactly what we as a society think about God today and we are on a fast track to judgment. Consider Psalm 14:1-4. (NIV)

“The fool says in his heart, “”There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Do all these evildoers know nothing?”

Consider Romans 3:10-18. (NIV)

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Consider Galatians 6:7-8. (NIV)

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

I have been told that I need to speak more about love and less about judgment. I replied that I have often spoken about love, but there also comes a time we need to know that judgment is coming.

God has been removed from every facet of our society. We have clearly stated by our actions that we want nothing to do with God and what He has to say. God has spoken very clearly in His Bible, His Word, what He expects of mankind. There are no gray areas. We have the attitude that since we live in the 21st century, we are the brightest of the brightest and all those who lived before us are idiots. We know everything. We don’t need God in our lives. We are our own god. We call the shots.

Our society has taken everything God has stated positively and made it a negative. We have taken everything God has stated negatively and made it a positive. We have made such a mess of this planet, only God can fix it, and that He will.

We may attack His Word all we want, but He will have the last say. The few Christians in this world who still listen to God will face more and more persecution. How much before He comes for His Church, the bride? I don’t know, but let us be faithful. Already, we are the laughing stock in our society. As I said earlier, even those who I didn’t think would entertain perverted worldly beliefs have fallen hook, line and sinker for Satan’s lies.

The United States of America is no longer a Christian nation. It is now a perverted cesspool of debauchery. We are a nation of idolatrous heathen much like Sodom and Gomorrah of old. The people of Noah’s day have nothing on us when it comes to sin. We are very familiar with it, and we love it. We live like the devil and claim it is from God. We accept the lies of Satan as truth, and call the Truth of God a lie. He will not be mocked. His Word will stand.

We have attacked God’s Word. Therefore He has given us up to sinful desires (Romans 1:24-25). We have attacked His veracity. Therefore God has given us up to shameful lusts (Romans 1:26-27). We have rejected God, and He has given us up to depraved minds. (Romans 1:28-32)

The love of God is so great (John 3:16) that even though we are His enemies, He will forgive any who come to Him with a repentant heart through His Son Jesus. By His grace He will give us what we do not deserve and withhold from us what we do deserve. However, His justice cannot be ignored. Our rejection will leave Him no choice but to give us what we deserve and withhold from us what we do not deserve.

To attack God, as we are doing, and make a mockery of His Word is begging for the wrath of God to come down upon us. It is coming for those who refuse to repent. When the Tribulation period does arrive, the world will experience the full wrath of Almighty God. Some will love Him, repent and die for Him, while others will curse Him as they feel the smothering weight of His justice. One thing is certain; the world will then know that God is not some old white-haired man in the sky that winks at evil.

There is one God, and it is not us. We can’t just do as we please and mock God. He will have the last say whether we like it, or agree with it, or not.

Grant Phillips