FOR YEARS NOW the Church has produced many men and women who are concerned with the “end times,” and rightly so, in one sense, for the Scriptures do teach that the “END” will come. But when will it come? Personally I do not know. I do know that the Holy Spirit has been speaking prophetically to our group for years, telling us that great tribulation is at hand while at the same time speaking to us of generations yet to come. And great tribulation is certainly at hand!

      Why great tribulation? Because of the disgusting moral decadence that is permeating both the professed Christian Church and the many non-Christian peoples around the world. Don’t you think the LORD has the right to punish sinners, be they Christian or heathen? No doubt, time is running out for those in sin.

      What do we do with a Scripture like Matthew 25:6—“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him”? Well, we must take it as instruction. Jesus, the Bridegroom, IS CERTAINLY coming again. But when? Perhaps the more pointed question is this: Are you ready, dear professed Christian, dear sinner—are you ready for His coming? Could it be NOW that the “night shades of the Great Tribulation” are upon us? One preacher wrote, “We are persuaded to believe we are in the proximity of A.D.—11:30 p.m.”

      I remember as a child that the big SCARE was the threat of an atomic/hydrogen bomb. The domineering U.S. Government strongly advised all Americans to build underground bomb shelters. Remember those days? There was a prevailing fear that someone would soon destroy the U.S.A. (and the rest of the world!) by a chain reaction of atomic fission or hydrogen fusion. The fear was everywhere. Well, time moved on and here we are, now threatened to be NUKED by Islamic terrorists. So now we have the looming nuclear threat—and it is real, too.

      The Bible teaches us that when men get self-confident and cry “peace and safety” as the result of their own efforts, that destruction will soon fall upon them (I Thessalonians 5:3). Despite all of man’s moralizing, all his attempts to do and be “good”; despite the prevalence of a “self-help” gospel (a false gospel) and regardless of all the generous government hand-outs, this generation is deeply gripped with every conceivable vice known to man. This is why great tribulation must come. Degenerate, degraded, depraved, devilish—here is the condition, the sum total of our present generation. Second Timothy 3:1-5 teaches us that everything will consistently grow worse and worse and worse until all will end in sheer catastrophe at the second appearing of the Son of God. My dear readers, things are getting worse, and His second appearing will come to pass.

      Second Thessalonians 2:3 teaches us that there will be a tragic GREAT FALLING AWAY and that the professed, sin-loving Church will almost completely apostatize from the truth of the Gospel and maintain only a powerless form of Godliness. Can we be honest and admit that this is happening even as I write? (See Revelation 3:15-16.) Second Timothy 3:4 teaches us that men will be LOVERS of pleasure more than lovers of God. This is also here. Are not selfishness, greed, vile affections (e.g., those of the Sodomite Movement), the love of pleasure and vice all the evil hallmarks of our present satanic age, coupled together with hatred and murder and darkness to no end?

      In case you are worried, the “END TIME” events will happen as predicted. The kingdoms of this wicked world will be destroyed to their finality by Christ Jesus (see Daniel 2:34, 44). Indeed, this present age is more than ready to enter a New Age—its ruler will be Jesus Christ the Lord. I think we can all testify that our world has lost its equilibrium and is ready to topple over. Tensions, perplexities, wars, terror, fear, crime, and all the convulsions of nature show forth the creeping death throes of one age and the birth pangs of another. Sadly, the Church, which is supposed to be the enduring LIGHT of the world and SALT of the earth, is utterly destitute of light and has lost her salty savor, thus leaving the lost world in its unspeakable lostness.

      Did not the Antediluvians, the men and women of Noah’s pre-Flood days, disbelieve that their age would ever come to an end? Yet their unbelief did not, I repeat, DID NOT postpone the impending END that was ordained by Almighty God Himself. The same truth holds today. Men’s unbelief will in no wise stop or hinder God’s judgment upon this evil world. So, have you really grasped the truth that the consummation of “the dispensation of the fullness of times” is drawing near (see Ephesians 1:10) and that the immutable (unchangeable) prophecies of God’s Word are near their fulfillment? Not one prophecy will be abrogated—all will be fulfilled.

      The Bible tells us specifically about the “END TIMES.” There are no “vague generalities” in Jesus’ teachings about when finis (“end”) is written to time. Jesus spoke forth sober, immutable truths that point directly to real events, circumstances and realities that must and will take place as the “end” draws near. He made it precisely clear that there will be a definite day when finis is written to time—when time itself has come to finis, its “finish,” and all things have been fulfilled. This fact of the “end” is declared throughout God’s Word. Knowing that God’s Word is true, this ought to give us much greater incentives to carefully watch and pray, and daily purify and sanctify ourselves unto God.

      Unlike religious men and women, the Bible does not emphasize that we need the superficial or the sensational to build up our faith. Rather, it puts forth the sharp two-edged sword and the fire that burns which will keep us alive in the Spirit. It is really pathetic to see how un-Spiritual the Church has become in this hour, particularly when the Word is so widespread and available.

      When the former things are finally passed away, as Revelation 21:4 tells us they will be, and man’s probation (time of testing) is over; when finis is written to time, and the finite standards of time are forever replaced by those of God’s eternity, then will everything come to light, and it shall be revealed who was wise and who was foolish.

      Let us not lose hope in a hopeless world. Romans 5:5 tells us that “hope maketh not ashamed” but rather gives us boldness. In fact, our Christian hope is the “anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19); it holds us steadily in place amidst the violent storms of life. Furthermore, our Christian hope purifies the soul as I John 3:3 tells us. So how do we gain this hope? Hope is obtained through God’s Word—His sure Word of prophecy. If we believe, we shall receive, and we shall be strengthened unto the “end.”

~General James Green, February 2006~