Last Days of the Age

As I begin to write, it’s about 9:23 PM on May 20, 2011. Harold Camping of Familyradio.com has prophesied that all believers will be raptured out of this world by dinner time on May 21, 2011. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this man’s prophecy is a lie from the pit of hell. I pray the Lord’s mercy over Harold Camping that he may be brought to the Truth in Christ, not only because of this soon to be proven false prophecy, but so that he may know true Salvation through Christ. This man has led many astray, but each person will also have to answer on their own account for following this man’s deceit. I also pray for these as well, that they all may seek the author of Truth rather than flesh and bone for answers in Scripture. God is not manipulated by the calculations and understanding of men. Rather, He seeks out those who seek after Truth, not for their own gain, but serve Him who created them.

How do I know Harold Camping is a liar? Because what has been referred to as rapture is not rapture at all. Here is what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.[b]
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. IThess. 4:13-18

It says the Lord Himself will come with a great shout and then we would be caught up in the air, not heaven, but the air. The Lord doesn’t come secretly to gather His peopel, but openly and then judges the unjust. Matthew 24:29-31 says

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

So Jesus Himself gave a further clue that after a period of tribulation the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. Then His sign will appear in heaven, and then He will gather His people together at the sound of a trumpet. Paul mentioned a trumpet in his letter to the Thessalonians. Paul also wrote to the Corinthians and mentioned the last trumpet anouncing Christ’s return:

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I Cor. 15:51-52

So it is the last trumpet that Jesus returns. In Reveleation we read of 7 trumpets being sounded by angels. Here is what we read about the seventh trumpet:

7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. Rev 10:7

3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Rev 11:3-15

There’s a lot to consider here, but see that there are other things that need to happen before the last trumpet like the ministry of the two witnesses before they are caught up to the Lord.

In closing, Harold Camping is doing much harm to the witness of Christ, but He is faithful in His own witness to those who are called. They will see through the lie and not be fooled by deception. I pray for those who are mocking Christ because of this false witness that they will take time to examine the scripture and seek the Lord. I pray that my brothers and sisters in Christ will take courage in Him to share the Gospel despite what false witness goes forth.

God Bless, Al

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the vow shall be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
To You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will provide atonement for them.

4 Blessed is the man You choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.

5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
6 Who established the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power;
7 You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples.
8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.

9 You visit the earth and water it,
You greatly enrich it;
The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.

11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.

A brother in the Lord posted this in a Yahoo Group I belong to. With his permission I have reposted it here. I found it encouraging and edifying. I hope you do to.

You know, sometimes many of us may think to ourselves just “How did I get into this mess?” or “I don’t want to believe this.” Many of us, as I have come to realize, are numb to much of the calamity and chaos taking place in our local cities and devastating events happening around the world. From tornadoes, to economic downturn, political stalemate and backroom deals to North African riots protesting against tyrannical governments, oil spills, animals dying, comets or brown dwarfs headed for earth, solar flares, planetary magnetic fluctuations…how do we make sense of it all?

It maybe the end of the world but it’s not the end. The world loves its own, its own people and its own ways and the world hated Christ because He is not of this world just as we are not of this world.

This numbness that many feel can be expressed more as a helpless feeling in the midst of such massive changes and excessive forces; that we are incapable of changing what is up ahead. Yet though we can not change the future, we can prepare for it, we can champion in the endless glories and dream-like imagination that encompasses eternity, we can stand in awe of the endless chase of God that man will undertake, each day (without night) being in the presence of the Almighty God who showed the depths of His glory and His love through the history of a despicable and contemptible world. We know God’s power more so in our weakness than we could have ever known Him had we been initially made immortal. We know His faithfulness even more so through the trials of deathly and painful arrows that the enemy sends our way, through the course of a creation that groans and travails as a woman with birth pangs since the beginning than we could have ever known Him had we first experience a perfect world with no troubles. His power, His faithfulness and also omnipresence stands the test of time. Looking back from eternities hand we may say if all of the history of the world, the rise and fall of nations, were summarized in a short war of words it would be said “The world has declared ‘God isn’t’ but God says ‘I am'”

This is the Lord we will serve for eternity. This is the God that Simon the prophet proudly was martyred for. The God that John the Baptist was beheaded for, The Lord who is Triune and infinitely glorious above all. What will I say to the Saviour the day I step into Heaven? I don’t know and whatever it is it will be true and right because I will be perfect in that day.

It doesn’t matter so much where you go but the fact that God is there. When you read the book of Ephesians, doesn’t that give such a great contrast to today’s churchanity? I can’t read that book without being shaken and desiring of standing on roof tops and screaming “HE LIVES”
No church dismissal, no secular church activities and games, no more Baptist feasts just yelling “HE LIVES” “JESUS IS GOD and HIS SALVATION IS ETERNAL. COME TO HIM.”

The world would have us to believe otherwise whether implicitly or explicitly, whether by lackadaisical church Sunday worship or humanistic public schools and universities yet either way the doors will lead to hell. They want us to feel crazy in having such hope, they want us to just hold God as a bumper sticker on the back of our life or a little short devotional without living our whole lives and expressing our whole being toward Him. They capitalize on our fears that we can easily escape but they never will from their own accord.

Heb 2:
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Just consider the fear of death for a moment. Like the fear of heights, it causes us to squirm and back away from the perceived danger, if we jump, placing our foot on open air, it will surely be to our death. Yet the Word says “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint.” Confronted with a canyon of problems and Satanic fronts against us if we only take that leap of faith will we not fly like eagles and in the day of adversity still stand?

Hebrews 2:15 is absolutely amazing to me, astounding, it summarizes the driving forces that enable sin to have it’s strong hold. It is a weak yet convincing laugh in the face of danger to support “Eat, drink and be merry” when met with the inevitability of death. The children of darkness glory in their darkness, in their depravity as a pseudo-confidence; a big-time bluff to give meaning to meaninglessness and honor to the dishonorable. Death can have no real meaning to them for if it death were held in the scales all their life would be suddenly recognized as futile and in vain. For if one considers death in only it’s real perspective there is a presumption of worthiness of death and hence guilt in which both the moral and empirical consideration of death reveals God as Judge and the holder of the keys of death and Hell. Therefore, the individual must consider himself as judge and the ruler of his life and denounce or deny the causality of death while placing it in the fiction section of his mind.

12 men who were taught by the Son of God, who performed miracles, who spoke in tongues, who were endowed with the Holy Spirit, who waged war against sin, who emboldened and consoled their fellow saints, who some authored what we call the New Testament were average ordinary men with like desires as us but they had been chosen and picked out of the corrupt world they knew, to accomplish something greater and more magnificent than any of us could ever imagine. Multitudes of lives have been changed through the ages, yes nations have fallen and risen because of the actions and the words they penned. The Bible is the number one seller in the world that outnumbers all the other nine of the top ten best-selling books ever sold. Buildings have been constructed around the world with steeples, tens of thousands of baptisteries have been made. Families that were once broken have now by the power of it’s words become mended and strong just as friendships also can be restored. Those 12 men whose story is told in the New Testament (one who fell away and was replaced by casting lots) those men changed the course of this world and they were changed by Jesus Christ who was crucified and rose again on the third day.

They were men who lived without fear of death, they; their fleshly persona was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless they lived but not them but Christ within them. He has overcome the world, He has overcome death, He is the lamb that was slain but liveth evermore.

Ps 27:1
1 The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

We are in bondage as much as we fear death and as much as we allow others to elicit fear in us. The fatal flaw in the way of their thinking and reasoning is that though they are afraid to die and undergo the ending of their life they live as though death is a trifle matter and scoff at the only thing capable of saving them: Christ’s promise of eternal life.

May the Lord fill your heart with hope, courage and wisdom in the days preceding His coming.
May He awaken us to the cause of lost souls once again, en-flaming our hearts with anguish for the death of loved ones and friends. May He cause us before the time comes when, we can’t as freely speak, to boldly declare the righteousness and glories of God to the world and abroad whether in sight or blindness, whether in rain or shine, whether in pain or health, whether as old or young that all of us may live in accordance to His will and be blameless and without shame in the day of His coming knowing that we did all we could for Him, with all the gifts we had and ability we could muster, and may we count all things as dung that we may win Christ. May the Lord help me to crucify the old man and to never go back to him ever again. Amen!

Blessings in God,
~Mark

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jayanti-tamm/the-c-word_2_b_848340.html

³⁵ Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
³⁷ Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mat 22:35-40)

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Here is a thought concerning Christian forums. The few that I have come in contact with have statements of faith and rules to follow so we all know how to get along. The Lord is showing me that this is the same thing that got us wrapped up in denominations. The doctrines of men rather than fellowship in Christ. Invariably someone has already begun to think “yeah, but… what if someone gets out of line, what if they start spreading apostasy, what if…”

We all still live in the flesh, but we should all recognize on a basic and elementary level that our relationship with each other and to Christ is based on Love! I’m talking about agape love, the kind supplied by our relationship with Christ. Quite frankly without Christ’s agape love flowing through us when we fellowship, Christ’s work in His body will not get done. Or put differently, if we step outside of Christ’s agape love, then we are working against the Kingdom of Christ. I think this is part of what Paul means when he wrote about walking in the Spirit. I do   is talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit, but this is inclusive of agape love provided as a gift. So I am speaking of this concept of agape love and walking in the Holy Spirit as synonymous. I’m not sure you can have one without the other.

⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love isthe fulfillment of the law. ¹¹ And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:8-14)

Whatever I consider myself, it doesn’t matter. God will speak through whom He chooses. Be it a babe in Christ or an elder in Christ. Truth is truth as long as it comes from God to bring Him glory. I don’t and never will claim to have any secret knowledge about anything. God reveals the kingdom to those who are His. Those who are not Christ’s reject the truth when they hear it anyway. God Bless.

I think it’s funny how the English speaking world argues about which version is better or if one version passes a test when there are many who don’t speak English and have only one version in their own language. There are yet many languages that don’t have a version. Yes there are some really bad English translations that have come out, but I think God can still speak to people through some of these and move them on to something better. Or at least that’s my experience. When I started really getting into the word when the Lord was touching me, I couldn’t hardly make it through King James. Someone gave me an NIV and that suffice for a while for the Spirit to work in me. I really don’t read that version anymore, but prefer a New King James. When I read scripture to the kids before bed, I read from an American Standard. When I really want to study something out I use an Interlinear Bible that has Strong’s numbers.
Yeah, I think us English readers are spoiled to the hilt when there are many just depending on guidance through the Holy Spirit as well as the witness of the Body of Christ.

Have you ever felt guilty for sins committed before you were saved? Did you steal money or cheat somebody? Are you not assured of your salvation through Christ? My point is if one sin isn’t under the blood of Christ, then no sin is under the blood of Christ. You would have to repay everyone you cheated, apologize to everyone you lied to or harmed in anyway. Obviously there is no way for that to happen. You’ve lost touch with some people, some have passed on and you’ve forgotten some of the things you did. Our Salvation is by God’s Grace and Mercy alone by Faith alone in Christ as we walk according to His commandments. Jesus already paid for your sin on the Cross. If you try to return money or rectify a sin yourself you make the statement that Jesus didn’t pay for your every sin. You are now working for your Salvation instead of resting in your faith.

Consider Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they[a] made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul,[b]and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah is prophesying Christ, that He is the sin offering, the lamb led to the slaughter who will justify many. Consider Isaiah 54 and 55 as well, but I won’t post it here. Of course the whole of the New Testament proclaims this very message of Salvation by Grace and Mercy.
Jesus said Himself said “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mat 11:28) What rest? Rest from striving for our own salvation by working for it. He says in the next verse “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Back in the day a yoke was put on two beasts of burden, like oxen. So Jesus is saying yoke up to me and follow me. I am gentle and lowly in spirit, humble. We walk in the manner of Christ. In other words we are molded in the character and nature of Christ as we press into Him. I just wanted you to consider your salvation, if it is real, you don’t need to do anything beyond trusting Him with whatever measure of faith that you have. If you are feeling guilty, maybe you aren’t really saved.

¹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me,^[a] “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
³ So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.^{[b] 5} And on her forehead a name was written:

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev. 17:1-5

¹ After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. ² And he cried mightily^[e] with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! ³ For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
⁴ And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. ⁵ For her sins have reached^[f] to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. ⁶ Render to her just as she rendered to you,^[g] and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. ⁷ In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ ⁸ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges^[h] her.
Rev. 18:1-8

harlot – 1.  a prostitute or promiscuous woman

The harlot is the church system which professes she is the bride of Christ but continues in her pursuit of material things and ideas. She conforms to the image (character and nature) of the world instead of the image (character and nature) of Christ. She professes a prosperity gospel, and waters down the gospel to seek the unchurched. It twists scripture to its own agenda. It entertains rather than preaching Truth. There is no room for the Holy Spirit to move and direct in the congregation because of rigid schedule or denominational tradition (traditions of men). It puts itself under the yoke of government by becoming 501c3 corporations.
Is not the true Bride of Christ betrothed to Jesus and mirrors His character and nature. But the woman on the beast who claims to be the true bride says I sit as queen and am no widow. Yet she will see great torment on the great Day of the Lord because she fell away from the Truth of the Gospel. This means those people who are caught up in this religious system (traditions of men) will suffer the wrath of God!

My desire is that eyes be opened and the love of Christ pour out into each one of your lives. Please seek the Lord through fasting and prayer if necessary. Ask Him to open your eyes whether this is truth or lie. How can the wicked see their wickedness if there are no righteous? Please send this to everyone who claims to love the Lord Jesus. Note the strong admonition in Revelation to “Come out of her… lest you share in her sins”.

God Bless, Al Nelson