The Sun will go into an eclipse and the moon will turn to blood. This world is facing earth-shattering events. The wicked have prospered and increased. They have become bold and blasphemous and the cup of sin is near to being full. Justice in the heart of our Heavenly Father allows the wicked to run their course, but then the hammer must fall. There is a strong sense in my heart that the hour of these events is at hand. I do not know that they will begin during this year of 2010, but I do know they are certain, and I believe it will be soon. The state of the Western churches is so utterly apostate that no spiritual renewal will occur until judgment begins.

God’s perfect Word has declared, “. . . for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9). The blindness of the Western World to holy things and the arrogance about any possible judgment by God is a dark crisis. It cannot last. God will either act or His reputation is on the line. Please, do not question the fact that the great Sovereign God is preparing for His visitation. The Word of God has already spoken.

The Holy Ghost anointed Apostle Peter to speak of our day as he preached the “Pentecost Celebration” sermon. It is clear that Peter was addressing the entire church dispensation from that day to our day. If there is a chapter in the Bible that should be a clarion call to the church world, this is it. The church of Jesus Christ was inaugurated at Pentecost and the Holy Spirit did not fail to announce the closing hour.

Peter spoke very passionately of these last days concerning the kingdom of God on earth, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:17-21). He used a Greek word for “last-eschatos” and the meaning is “most remote,” “extreme,” or the “last of the last.” It is evident that we are there.

The things about to happen are going to shake this world to its very soul. Imagine about 1:30 on a sunny afternoon when the sun simply goes out, and our world turns dark as midnight. Nothing in natural science or nature will be identified as an ordinary cause. Those scientists that study the atmosphere are quickly brought into the newsroom, but they can only say, “This is unexpected, we have no answers.” Not only will the darkness startle people but the deep spiritual emotions that follow such an act by God will be even more troubling. The emotions that followed 9/11 will pale to compare. Animals will seek a hiding place, chickens will go to roost, and dogs will howl with dread.

This eclipse of the sun may well be followed by the moon turning blood red and trailing the sky with what appears to be a moon bath. The tint of blood will suddenly leave the entire heavenlies with an awe inspiring gloom. Wicked people will curse at the heavens and drown themselves in intoxicants. The Bible has promised that this coming judgment will be so overwhelming to the unprepared multitudes that, “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Luke 21:26).

Our present moon is the heavenly body that determines the tides of the oceans. When the moon starts to convulse the earthly water tables will follow suit. The Son of God told us this would occur, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring”(Luke 21:25). The East and West coasts of America will certainly experience tsunamis that will devastate entire major cities. We are talking about a time when the supreme powers of the heavens will no longer be a subject for jest and debate. Atheists will either curse and swear or turn to prayer. There will no longer be a middle ground between believers and unbelievers.

Apostle Peter spoke of things that will occur as almost impossible to understand in advance. An eclipse of the sun and the moon turning to blood is only part of what the Christian world may face as we await the Rapture. He spoke of “signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.” We are speaking of indescribable events. Natural phenomena can cause some of this, but the world often explains them as the results of nature. I believe these will be so unexpected and unexplainable that the Sovereign God must be acknowledged.

The multitudes will finally refuse the lies of Bible critics and start giving glory to God. As soon as the moon turns to blood, millions will turn to God. When the Sun goes out or God covers it with His hand, and when the light comes back on, church altars will once again become the mourner’s bench.

The Holy Ghost speaking by Peter at Pentecost did not fail to give us the effect of these Heavenly manifestations. None of these actions will be wasted. God is going to prepare this universe for both revival and His final redemption. As He concluded this explanation of judgments, the Spirit said, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

All of the above could happen either before or after the Rapture. The Apostle was speaking to the multitude in Jerusalem and to the church. This could well mean that this portion of judgment may occur at any moment. We are foolish if we do not live ready to go in the Rapture or ready to reap a harvest as our Lord shakes this world to its senses. I pray that He will send this shakening before He raptures His Church for the sake of the lost.

Joseph R. Chambers, DD, DSL
 jrc@pawcreek.org

Remembering what I was when Jesus Christ came to me is overwhelming! I was a radically immature teenager. My language was gross and cheap. My habits were unclean and selfish. I was too immature to be bold with young ladies, but my thoughts were still dirty. Stealing what I wanted had become my lifestyle. Yet, nothing I had meant anything, so caring for a possession was beyond my comprehension. Reading or writing was non-existent. Listening to country songs on the old Victrola record player is the one pleasure I remember. I was on a road to nowhere.

The farm life was hard but the work never bothered me. It was the most secure thing in life. School was an absolute bore because I never learned how to read. I’m still not sure how I made it to the ninth grade, which was when my dad let me quit because the farm needed my labor. Dad’s drinking was the only sad thing I remember. It was like everything went into a spin when I saw him staggering in the door or trying to drive the car. My mother was a good woman and a great cook. I never remember being hugged even though it was reported that I was the spoiled one of the eight children. I certainly would never speak unkind of my parents or my family.

But something wonderful happened at the age of sixteen. A cousin that loved to drink and sell whiskey moved his family to our farm as a sharecropper. His wife had been wonderfully saved and loved to go to a church thirty miles away. Roby would drive us to church and then go sell his whiskey while we attended the service. I remember the old gunny sack that held his half gallons of peach brandy that my dad had made being under my feet as we rode to church. An evangelist preached the Gospel with power and I walked the aisle to surrender to Christ. The transformation was overwhelming and I have never wanted to turn back. On our way home that night, probably to deliver a half gallon of whiskey, I remember rolling down the window and yelling to someone that met the car, “I went to church tonight a goat but I am going home a sheep.” That was my total theology.

The pastor, Lanky Lambert, would come to the farm and stand on our tobacco wagon to preach the Holy Bible. I could not read but someone gave me a King James Bible and I fell in love with that book. I can remember holding it in my hand and thinking, “How will I ever learn this great story?” This is back when the unlearned were given the King James Version and the educated read the other versions. Out behind the old farm house was a single bush that became my hidden place to pray. I remember how every time the Lord seemed distant to me, I would hurry to pray until His presence would return. I have never gotten beyond that simple truth.

Falling in love with the Bible was the most important thing that happened to me. I knew I was opening the mouth of Jesus Christ every time I opened the Bible and closing His mouth when I closed the Bible. Preaching was the grandest part of church. I remember the old saints that would sing in the Holy Ghost as worship would fill the house. It was so orderly and yet so informal. Pentecost in those days was not controlled by men but was a sovereign sweetness in the bliss of power. It was like a little heaven on earth and never unruly or wild.

I will never forget the first time I saw wild emotions that made it all look so cheap. The contrast in those days could not be missed because pure Pentecost was so real that flesh was quickly hushed. Almost all of televised Pentecost today is nothing less than barbarian. I learned that a Sovereign move of the Holy Spirit is first pure, then it adheres to the Word of God spoken by Apostle Paul in I Corinthians Chapters 12 and 14, and it beautifully exalts Jesus Christ and Him alone. The carnal flesh has no place to be exalted when His Holy Spirit manifests true worship and ministry.

My life was led by the Spirit from the very beginning; otherwise, I would have fallen on my face. I could not have been more unwise in the early days. Alcohol had destroyed my dad’s body and he committed suicide when I was seventeen. I had already left home but returned to help my mother finish a large crop of tobacco and sell the farm when the year was over. When she was secure in a little house, I returned to Burlington where the Lord had brought Juanita into my life. We were married the following summer. How little then did I realize the purpose of God in mine and my Queen’s lives. She is the sweetest soul I have ever known.

I knew immediately after I was saved that I was called to preach. Although I could not read, I was slowly learning; but, I was horribly tongue-tied. However, I was completely confident that the Lord would be sufficient. I recall people begging me not to claim my calling because I could not pronounce words clearly and correctly. They even pressured me not to marry Juanita because she was a fragile diabetic since the age of eighteen. She is now seventy-five and a picture of health.

We are not satisfied with what we have accomplished to date. There is much we want to finish in our ministry. Our greatest burden is to see the fulfillment of Apostle Peter’s prophecy in Acts 2:17-21. The latter rain outpouring is on the horizon and when that is in full swing, I am ready to ascend the steps and fill heaven with my shouts. I saw Pentecost when it was real and I am going to see

Joseph R. Chambers, DD, DSL
 jrc@pawcreek.org