Soon Cometh The Earthquake
'And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake such as was not seen since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great'. So the Bible speaks of the end of the Gentile Dispensation (Rev. 16:18).
Of the Spiritual condition of the church, Jesus says: 'They are miserable'. That means that they are objects to be pitied. They scorn pity. They are full of pride. They vaunt what they have. But what they have will not stand the test of time. They have built upon quicksand rather than the rock of the revelation of God's Word.
Soon cometh the earthquake. Soon the storms of the wrath of God in judgment. Then sudden destruction, and in spite of all their carnal preparation they will be unprepared for what comes upon the earth. In spite of all their worldly efforts, church men and women are actually opposing themselves and don't know it. Objects of pity are they indeed.
Pity the poor people who are in this last day ecumenical move, for they call it the move of God, when it is of Satan. Pity those who do not know the curse of organization. Pity those who have so many beautiful churches, lovely parsonages, grandly trained choirs, a show of wealth and such a sedate and reverent form of worship. Pity them, don't envy them. Back to the old store buildings, to less of the world and more of God. Pity those who make their great claims, and talk about their gifts. Feel for them as objects of pity, for soon they will be objects of wrath.
'They are poor', Spiritually poor. The sign of this Age as it closes, is bigger and better churches, with more and more people, with more and more manifestation of what is supposed to be demonstrations of the Holy Ghost. But the gifts of the Spirit in operation, and remarkable attendance is not the answer from God, for those who come to the altars seldom stay to go on with God.
After the great campaigns are finished, where are all those who came down the aisles? They heard a man, they listened to an appeal, they came into the net, but they were not fish, not His elect, and turtle-like they crawled back to their own waters.
Then there is all this talk about the glossalalia, or tongues. It is supposed to be the evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, and people are thinking that we are in the midst of a great revival. But they are deceived, the revival ended in 1957, and the tongues are God's sign of impending disaster, even as they were when they appeared upon the wall at Belshazzar's feast. The ONLY revival in THIS day is in the heart of the Bride (Matthew 25:6; Revelation 18:7).
Don't you know that many are going to come in the last day and say, 'Lord, Lord, have we not done many wonderful works in Thy Name, even to the casting out of devils'? And He will say, 'Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you' (Matthew 7:22-23). Jesus said they were workers of iniquity.
'You are blind and naked'. They believe they are Christians but they are spiritually blind, and spiritually naked. Do you remember when Elisha and Gehazi were surrounded by the army of the Syrians? Elisha smote them blind by the power of God. Yet their eyes were wide open and they could see where they were going. The blindness was peculiar in that they could see certain things, but other certain things such as Elisha and the servant and the camp of Israel they could not see. What this army could see did not avail for them. What they did not see brought on their captivity.
This means to us exactly what it meant back there in the earthly ministry of Jesus. He tried to teach them truth, but they would not listen. John 9:40-41. 'And some of the Pharisees which were with Him heard these words, and said unto Him, Are we blind also?' Jesus said unto them, 'If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, "We see;" therefore your sin remaineth'.
The attitude of this age is exactly what it was then. People have it all. They know it all. They cannot be taught. If a point of truth from the Word comes up and a man tries to explain his view to one with an opposing view, the listener is not at all listening that he might learn, but is listening only to refute what is being said.
Now I want to ask a fair question. Can Scripture fight Scripture? Does the Bible contradict the Bible? Can there be two doctrines of truth in the Word that say the opposite or oppose the other? NO. IT CANNOT BE SO. Yet how many of God's people have their eyes open to that truth? Not even one percent, as far as I know, have learned that all Scripture is given by God and all is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, etc.
If all Scripture is so given, then given a chance, every verse will dovetail. But how many believe in predestination unto election and reprobation unto destruction? Will those who don't listen? No, they will not. Yet both are in the Word, and nothing will change it. But to learn about it and reconcile the truth of those doctrines with other truths that seem to oppose, they will not take the time. But they stop their ears, and gnash with their teeth, and they lose out.
God says they are naked as well as blind. I cannot imagine anything as tragic as a man who is blind and naked and does not know it. There is only one answer - he is out of his mind. He is already deep in oblivion. His faculties are gone, spiritual amnesia has set in.
God promised a prophet to the church at the end of the Laodicean Age, but they were blind to all that he is, did and said. They were so sure they were right, and in their blindness they will lose it all. Calloused and beyond hope, they glory in what is actually their shame. Defiant against the Word, yet one day they shall be judged by it and pay the price of its awful indictments.
The resurrection of the New Testament saints will pattern after the resurrection of the Old Testament saints. Soon cometh the earthquake. strat005.htm
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