Planet
earth was near cataclysm. The atomic structure of all creation strained to
explode while the One for whom and by whom all things were created descended
the
Mount of Olives riding on the donkey.
Apparently,
all that kept the building blocks of the universe from flying apart were the
hosannas of praise shouted by the people who spread the palm fronds
before
Jesus.
The
indignant Pharisees, seeing and hearing the worshipful adulation, implored
Jesus to tell them to stop their praising. The Lord knew their jealous,
sin-blackened
hearts-that
they, in their unbelief, considered the praise blasphemy. As He always did,
Jesus spoke truth that out away all superfluous side issues.
I
tell you the truth that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would
immediately cry out (Luke 19:40).
The
King of kings moved toward the holiest of all places on earth to present
himself as Israel's Messiah and King. In a short time, those people would
reject
Him
and demand that He be put to death by. the cruelest method of execution known
in that day. When the praises turned to cursing and the Lamb of God
was
slain in the once and for all sacrificial act that provides redemption for lost
mankind, the skies darkened to midnight black at midday. The earth
convulsed
mightily and split apart. Corpses came out of their graves and walked the
streets of Jerusalem. Nature itself must have screamed in agony when
the
Son of God and God the Father separated because of humanity's sin, which Christ
became in that awful moment the Trinity was split.
Before
Jesus voluntarily gave up His spirit to death, I le said, "Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Could Jesus have been
asking
the Father to restrain the geophysical elements from taking vengeance on that
generation of rebellious earth dwellers?
All
of creation no doubt spasmmed with the pain the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
experienced. Legions of angels leaned forward, ready for battle if the Son
of
God had called. But Jesus' words reflected only compliance with the will of His
Father in heaven: "It is finished" (John 19:30). And the up heaving
geophysical
universe
settled when the veil in the Holy of Holies ripped from top to bottom.
Practically
every indicator within the scope of human affairs points to restlessness,
turmoil, and to wars and rumors of wars. Jesus' words as recorded
in
Matthew 24:5-8 could easily be applied to our times. The Lord said in that
account, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall
deceive
many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not
troubled-, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall
be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places. All
these
are the beginning of sorrows."
Although
He was referring specifically to the Tribulation period, that seven-year period
of apocalypse which will conclude with His second advent at the
time
of Armageddon, He also said in Luke 21:28 that "when these things begin to
come to pass" we are to "look up, and lift up [our] heads; for four]
redemption
draweth
near." Jesus said that these indicators would be "the beginning of
sorrows" or birth pangs.
The
Lord warned that these symptoms of the end time will increase in frequency and
intensity as the time of His return approaches like the labor contractions
a
woman suffers when the birth of her child nears. His words seemed to emphasize
that man's rebelliousness and wickedness will again be at levels like
in
the days of Noah and the days of Lot (Luke 17: 26-30). Mankind's incorrigible
rebelliousness will bring God's wrath.
Certainly,
this generation of earth dwellers cries out for peace. Most conspicuous in this
regard is the global outcry for a cessation of hostilities between
Israel
and its Palestinian neighbors. The hue and cry for peace, however, can be heard
from every quarter on earth. From nations in conflict with each
other,
from ethnic groups warring one against another, from communities experiencing
ever increasing violence, from families in turmoil, from individuals
who
murder and maim each other, every hour of every day, they cry peace, peace!
when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11).
This
generation seeks to calm the rage, but does so through anything and everything
but the one and only source of true peace, Jesus Christ. The poorest
among
our number seek comfort, solace, and sustenance from governmental bureaucracies.
The middle class seeks to keep noses above the flood of taxes those
bureaucracies
issue forth. Yet at the same time, the middle class gropes for temporal
pleasures, entertainment, and material goods that might provide moments
of
peace that never seem to come. The wealthy and elite grasp for satisfaction
they perceive as attainable through the pursuit of money, power, and
self-aggrandizement.
Idolatry
of every sort rules throughout every strata of every culture and society today.
God is pushed farther and farther from the thoughts of men who
seek
only to praise their gods of this age.
Fires
of discontent are the result of man's refusal to give God the praise and
worship He alone deserves. That fire will soon produce seven years of hell
on
earth. As Jesus warned the Pharisees, "the very stones will cry out."
When
the 22-pound Mars rover named Sojourner began its work shortly after landing on
that planet July 4, 1997, scientists began proclaiming almost with
one
voice that the geological pattern was telling the story of a catastrophic
planetary flood. Many of these same scientists could discern and exclaim
loudly
that a planetary flood had occurred millions of years ago on the planet Mars
119 million miles distant. They cannot, however, bring themselves to
admit
that the catastrophic global flood reported in God's Word ever occurred on
earth. They deny the flood of Noah's day even though the geological record
attests
to the truth of the biblical account and is readily observable all around them
on their own planet.
The
stones cry out from 119 million miles away, making manifest the foolishness of
those who profess themselves to be wise. The so-called scientific community
can
claim with absolute authority that microbial life once existed on Mars because
of formations they think they see inside a meteor fragment they speculate
came
from Mars. They can say with certainty that man evolved out of primordial soup
without producing a single link of proof that one specie has ever made
the
evolutionary leap to become another specie. Yet when millions upon millions of
sealife fossils (seashells, etc.), are found on the highest peaks on
earth,
the so-called empirical method is thrown out the door. Rather than admit that
these mountain ranges were once under water due to a great flood that
covered
the whole earth, they choose to believe and put forth the unsubstantiated claim
that the mountains have been somehow rising for many millions of
years
from a starting point below sea level.
Human
beings lie because their foolish hearts are darkened. God's marvelously made
creation cries out the truth where mankind fails to do so. The apostle
Paul,
writing under inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, spoke to the heart of man's
disbelief and its consequences.
For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, Because that
which
may
be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them. For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so
that they are without excuse; Because, when they knew God, they glorified
him
not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they
became
fools, And changed the glory of the un-corruptible God into an image made like
to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things.
Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, Who exchanged
the
truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 18-25).
Our
generation voraciously devours the evolutionary dogma with the same gusto the
ancients hungered for their self-fashioned beastly gods. Idolaters of
today
differ from ancient idolaters only in that neo-pagans worship gods that are a
bit more interactive. They excitedly praise Hollywood entertainers and
shout
their adoration to sports stars and sports teams from pews at the temple-like
stadiums and arenas and through television altars in their homes. They
fashion
their objects of worship into shiny automobiles, pleasure boats, and other
usable forms. Like the pagans of old, they give their hearts, time,
and
money to their idols which they name after birds, four-footed beasts, and
creeping things.
Evolution
has become the foundational under girding upon which humanistic agendas are
built. God has been kicked out of our classrooms and our courtrooms.
He
has been replaced by relativism, which makes the individual a god unto himself.
Evolution
says that all began in chaos but is getting better and better as the human
animal progresses toward becoming the ultimate man. But in actuality,
evolution
creates chaos because it puts forward "values clarification" that
says everyone has a right to know and do what is right in his own eyes. The
ultimately
evolved man will be the incorrigibly wicked and rebellious people of the
apocalypse. The Antichrist will personify the lies wrapped up in the
false
faith so-called scientific minds of today term evolution.
Total
chaos, the opposite of true peace, is unregenerate mankind's destiny. America's
decline since the 1960's Supreme Court decisions to legalize abortion
and
outlaw God in classrooms and courtrooms and many other public places proves
that chaos results from a godless, humanistic system.
Often,
in discussions involving the state of the world, it is said that societies such
as those in Communist China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, or the various
brutal
regimes in Africa have no regard for human life. Such accusations imply that
America and western Europe are the truly civilized societies and cultures
of
planet Earth. However, with more than one million children legally murdered
while still in their mothers' wombs every year in the United States, the
assertion
that America honors life more than do the barbarous nations of Asia or Africa
is hypocrisy. The hypocrisy is magnified many times over when we
consider
that this nation has had God's grace shed upon it in ways no other nation, with
the possible exception of Israel, has ever experienced.
Darkness
has not come upon America because of wicked regimes suppressing gospel truth.
Darkness is engulfing us because we, as a people, are turning our
backs
on God. We are deliberately and methodically turning off God's light so that we
can do our self- sinful deeds under cover of darkness.
American
money has inscribed on it In God We Trust. Today, it would be more accurate to
say that our slogan is "In money we trust."
With
the Dow Jones stock market figure over the 8000 mark as of the time of this
writing, we live under the euphoric bubble of economic prosperity that
causes
national irrationality. While leaders at the highest levels of the United
States government are examined in congressional hearings for alleged influence
peddling
to communist China and other avowed enemies, polls show that same leadership
enjoys high approval ratings among Americans.
National
news media, unlike during the Watergate hearings three decades ago, push
information about the influence peddling to the back pages and middle
of
broadcasts when indeed they cover them at all.
The
troubling statement "character doesn't matter" seems to sum up the
majority of opinion in America so long as the economy continues to give us the
good
times
we want as an entertainment, recreation, and pleasure-seeking people.
America's
governmental leadership is not the source of America's problem. Rather,
America's leadership is a manifest symptom of the sin-darkened hearts
of
a growing majority of our citizens.
God's
Word speaks bluntly to a people who reject Him and choose instead to do what is
right in their own eyes.
The
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the
unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished; But chiefly them that walk
after
the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are
they; self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities....
But
these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of
the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their
own
corruption, And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count
it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes,
reveling
with their own deceivings.... Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot
cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised
with
covetous practices; cursed children, Who have forsaken the right way, and are
gone astray.... These are wells without water, clouds that are carried
with
a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever... For it had been
better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after
they
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them ... (2
Peter 2:9-21).
America's
founding fathers determined to set this nation upon a foundation of God-given
principles. Yet one federal judge can command that those godly principles,
the
Ten Commandments, be removed from a schoolhouse or courtroom wall. The Supreme
Court of the land can declare God's Word null and void and His Son,
Jesus
Christ, a non-desirable entity by declaring Christianity too narrow and bigoted
to be presented within America's educational process alongside pagan
deities
and pagan forms of worship which, in many cases, have governmental approval.
The results of such foolhardiness are inevitable.
This
disregard for God's Truth is disregard for life. Such disregard is, in some
sense, worse than atrocities committed by those we consider barbarians
in
regions that have not been so blessed by God as ours. Jesus Christ is the way,
the truth, and the life (John 14:6). To reject and blaspheme the only
begotten
Son of God is to display the ultimate disregard for life. Rejecting Jesus Christ,
the Prince of Peace, brings the opposite of peace-chaos and
war.
Humanism,
the system embodying man's determination to construct the world in his own
image totally apart from God's authority, is making an indelible imprint
upon
American family life. Homes are ripped apart by selfish actions that cast aside
the notion of personal responsibility.
A
generation has arisen from the chaos of evolution-based education. Man is but
the highest evolved form of animal life, the hellish doctrine goes, and,
like
the lower animals, has needs that supersede any obligation to some nebulous
concept of morality.
Hollywood
portrays the supposedly liberated man or woman as a sexual creature not unlike
a dog in the street who can simply mate on the spur of the moment,
then
separate after having satisfied their primal urges. There are no consequences,
only self-satisfaction and contentment until the next primal urge wells
within.
Sexual
innuendo and outright reference are every-night fare on sit-coms and regular TV
programming. It's just good -fun, the defenders offer when critics
speak
out. There is no real harm, they proclaim. Yet many who create the sexually
oriented programs are among those who cry the loudest in the fight against
sexual
harassment in the military, in business, and in society. This sort of
convoluted reasoning-that it is okay to program the minds of men with scenes
of
sexual debauchery in the name of "fun" entertainment but it is not
okay for these same programmed men to put their fantasies into action by
assaulting
women
in the workplace-God's Word calls reprobate thinking.
Growing
numbers of men are following the "if it feels good, do it" tenets
taught by humanism and vividly portrayed by Hollywood. Divorce rates continue
to
climb, the majority of them due to men leaving wives and children to pursue
relationships that require of them little or no responsibility. This is
not
to say that women are not culpable as well. Statistics show a growing number of
women deserting husbands and children for the same self-centered reasons.
Why
get married? is another attitude that pervades American culture today. Single
mothers who have never been married constitute a rising tide of irresponsible
behavior
that portends great trouble in the near future. Gangs of youth without fathers
to nurture and discipline them cling to each other and rage against
a
society that neither understands nor seems to care except when crimes committed
by the gang members on occasion directly touch our lives.
Abortion
proponents give unwanted children (such as those who end up in gangs and who
might predictably produce future gang members) as good reasons for
ending
pregnancies. Such children, if allowed to be born, they say, will only suffer
the abuse of America's gang culture or worse. The truth is, however,
that
abortion imprints upon the minds of our children the idea that human life is a
commodity like any other commodity and can be discarded without a second
thought.
Man, not God, it is implied, has authority over life and death. The message
clearly has gotten through to the young gang members who slaughter
each
other each night across America.
Americans
have for decades heard of civil conflicts in Third World countries where people
face bodily injury and even death because of bloody fighting in
the
streets of their neighborhoods. Such murderous rampages continue to inflict
millions of casualties. Wars resulting from civil unrest are perhaps more
horrendous
in nature than those in which uniformed armies oppose each other on
battlefields. Helpless women and children who carry no weapons most often
fall
victim to roving marauders in these civilian versions of war. Jesus' prophecy
that there will be wars until His return certainly has been proven accurate.
Rumors
of war, the second part of Jesus' prediction about deadly fighting that will
mark human history as His return nears, rumble ominous warnings from
America's
inner cities. Although fighting in the streets of this nation has so far been
confined to youth gangs sporadically shooting it out in our larger
cities,
troubling reports of increased drug dealings and other criminal activities in
suburban and even rural areas should serve as a wake-up call. Rumors
of
wars threaten to turn into actual wars if peace is not forthcoming.
So-called
"gang bangers "-inner city youth gang members sometimes now receive
something akin to diplomatic recognition by city officials and other leaders
who
desperately wish to negotiate an end to gang crime and gang war. Although such
overtures to these juvenile thugs are well intentioned, they serve to
give
gang leaders and the gangs themselves increased prestige, power, and authority,
thus making the gang life more attractive to youngsters. Rarely is
peace
made and never is peace maintained through these "summit"
negotiations.
The
apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3 that in the last days, perilous times will
come. He wrote in that account that many people will be fierce in those
closing
moments of human history. Death dealing carried on by the gangs and the drug
dealers who rove our streets late at night and make thousands of new
gang
members through death threats and thousands of new customers through addictions
indeed prove we live in a time when a growing number among us are
of fierce
demeanor. How long can it continue at the present rate of increasing ferocity
until every street in America becomes a battle zone like those
streets
in so many Third-World countries?
Jesus
foretold: "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
Lord alludes to man's intense interest in and preoccupation with things taking
place in space. It seems hardly necessary to ask whether that prophetic
reference
fits this generation. All eyes turned heavenward when Sputnik first traversed
the space above earth. Then Uri Gagarin's trip into space sent
the
U.S. Congress, the news media, and many worried citizens into orbit and America
was pronounced woefully behind in the space race. U.S. scientists were
given
carte blanche to pursue the Soviets. Then came Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and
all the rest. America's space program reached its zenith when Neil Armstrong
dropped
onto the moon's surface and issued the now-famous proclamation, "That's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Telescopes
in space have recorded spectacular stellar events, for example, comet fragments
slamming into the planet Jupiter with stupendous impact. The
space
shuttle program routinely draws our attention to the fact that man's future
points toward the stars. We witnessed the awful, yet awesome spectacle
of
the Challenger exploding, then falling ten miles to the ocean's surface, plumes
of death streaming behind it.
Man's
progress toward reaching into the heavens hardly skipped a beat, however, and
now the great enemies of the Cold War, Russia and the United States,
are
supposedly allies in the quest for reaching those stars with cosmonauts and
astronauts sharing the Mir space station and shuttle rides on a regular
basis.
Great plans are in the works for manned missions to Mars and beyond.
Jesus'
prophecy has already been fulfilled and He was foretelling events scheduled to
be most pronounced during the seven year Tribulation period.
The
next part of the Lord's prophecy, "and upon the earth, distress of nations
with perplexity" could be used as a bold headline on the front page of
every
major
newspaper in the world on any given day to encapsulate the present state of
world affairs. No nation on earth is without distress. Leaders are perplexed
as
to how to remedy the overwhelming distress.
The
United Nations, supposedly instituted to deal with such problems, is proven
ineffective time and time again. The nations continue to cry peace, peace,
when
there is no peace.
U.N.
leadership vies for power and influence within that confused body. More often
than not, the most horrendous distress among nations goes unnoticed because
the
oppressed are overlooked by the heady, high-minded diplomatic elite who seek
first and foremost to secure funding for their bureaucratic power bases.
The
southern part of Sudan in North Africa, for example, is perhaps the greatest
point of human stress on the planet. According to Kevin Turner, a missionary
with
the Voice of the Martyrs organization, millions of Christians have been
murdered in that region and continue to suffer such horrific deaths as
crucifixion
and
being buried alive. He reports that children are routinely taken from Christian
parents and are sold into slavery and prostitution. Turner said he
recently
gave slave traders $1,000 for 15 children, stating that although it distressed
him to in any way encourage slave trading, his higher duty was
to
see to it that the little ones were redeemed.
He
then reported in a trembling voice and with a breaking heart that some slave
traffickers are now engaging in the hellish business of harvesting the organs
of
the children they take from Christian parents.'
Is
it any wonder that God's wrath is building while the seas and waves of human
depravity crash upon this world? How terrible the judgments described
throughout
the
book of Revelation will be upon the generation who turns a blind eye and a deaf
ear to such atrocious inhumanity.
Jesus
himself described the plight of the generation of apocalypse: "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).
Waves
were breaking over the little vessel that rolled in the violent sea of Galilee.
The terrified men did all they could to keep the boat from being swamped,
probably
shifting their bodies to offset the buffeting from one side and then the other.
The storm got worse and all appeared to be lost. Despite their
best
efforts, they had lost control of their circumstances. Finally, they turned to
the One who, astonishingly, was sound asleep in one corner of the boat.
Jesus
of Nazareth awoke and calmly surveyed the heaving, tumultuous sea which
threatened to destroy the tiny craft. (Read Mark 4:35-41.) You and I stand
today
within a sea even more violent than that stormy sea nearly 2000 years ago. It
will get worse. Much worse. As a matter of fact, it will become so
violent,
God's Word says that if Christ Himself did not return, all life on earth would
end. Man would destroy himself.
Half
of earth's population will die during the seven-year Tribulation period. Many
will be killed through man's own murderous efforts when God removes His
restraining
hands for a time. Billions will die as a direct result of God's wrath during
the last three and a half years of the apocalypse. Great armies
will
march and roll and fly into the Valley of Jezreel. More than 200 million men
will come from the east while millions upon millions more invade from
west,
north, and south of Jerusalem. All of unregenerate humanity will, through
sin-engendered insanity, determine to battle to the final breath of the
last
man standing. Blood will literally flow and pool for many miles at depths up to
three or four feet, according to God's prophetic Word.
When
the rage intensifies to a level God can no longer tolerate, the dark, sulfurous
clouds blanketing earth's atmosphere because of the terrible carnage
of
that dark hour, the very fabric of space itself, will scroll apart. A blinding
laser-like path from heaven to earth will thrust forth. Heaven's armies
will
descend, led by the King of kings and Lord of lords.
While
the sea of humanity on the planet's surface viciously roars in an attempt to
prevent the heavenly intervention, those warring forces will turn from
battling
with each other to curse God and all His righteousness. Then Jesus Christ,
mounted upon a stunningly white steed, will speak words sharper than
a
two-edged sword.
I
am convinced they will be the same words Jesus of Nazareth spoke to that raging
sea of Galilee nearly two millennia ago. They are the same words He speaks
today
to everyone who turns to Him, acknowledging that there is nothing and no one
but Christ who can save them. He speaks those words to all who accept
Him
and trust Him to save them from their sins and to make them born-again children
of God.
Just
as His words instantaneously calmed that violent sea, thus saving the men in
the little boat, Jesus' words will instantly end the warfare and rebellion
at
Armageddon. Christ's words to your troubled heart likewise will bring
tranquility and joy to your soul. You will never be the same when He speaks
those
life-changing
words. "Peace, be still" (Mark 4:39).
Revelation's
thunder rumbles in the distance. Before the coming storm is full-blown, Christ
will come for those who trust Him and Him alone for salvation.
It
will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Even
so, come Lord Jesus.