The Coming Judgement - Part 1

Many people I have spoken to have said, “well if there is a God why is there so much evil in the world,” “why is there so much killing,” “why would he allow there to be disasters, starvation and affliction upon the world.” I want to ask you a question, would you want a God to control you or would you want to make your own decisions? I’ll ask you another way, everyone wants to be loved, right? Your desire would be that someone willingly loves you, you don’t want anyone to feel forced to love and stay with you, because it is not genuine. If that person chooses to love you, then they’ll love you unconditionally, there eyes are only for you and no one else, they will treat you very well according to human standards. However, what if you find that person you are with doesn’t really love you, they treat you poorly, some may abuse you mentally, emotionally, and physically, some may cheat, some may just show disinterest, but… that is a decision they have made, right? That person made a decision to act out in an abhorrent way and has caused the other person on the receiving end to be hurt. Okay, it’s the same thing for our Father in Heaven, yes he is the Creator, yes he loves us, he loves us so much that He sent His only son Jesus Christ to die a gruesome death so that we can be saved from our sins and not experience eternal wrath. However, the Lord, God does not impose his love on anyone, he wants you to willingly love Him. You have the same choice when it comes to loving another person. If you choose not to accept that love of salvation, and freedom from sin. If you choose to reject the love of our Father and Saviour, Jesus Christ, what actions will you display? You will show disinterest and act accordingly to your thoughts and feelings, right? For example, check your thoughts, everyone thinks evil thoughts - some may act them out, others may not, but that is a choice humanity makes every day. Therefore, you cannot blame God for the choices humanity has made. You cannot blame God for why there is evil on our streets, if humanity has free will to make their own decisions. Our heart is evil and sinful. Anyone that thinks otherwise is a liar. We were born into sin. I say it again, check your thoughts - everyone has evil thoughts, and we all need the salvation of Jesus Christ, because He is the only One that can save us. Jesus sees the hearts of those, even if we as humans don’t. He sees what is done in secret, good or bad (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

God created a world that was pure & good - humanity made a choice to go against what was pure. And no matter how many times the Lord has reached out his hands, the world still chooses to reject Him, and create false religions & ideologies instead e.g. all roads lead to Heaven. Judgement is coming, it is not far fetch to think that, we have seen several judgements take place since the world began, because of the sinful nature of humanity. You don’t have to be in that judgement if you choose God today!

There are so many churches and christians now who are not willing to acknowledge the times we are living in, now is not the time to be burying your head in the sand, now is the time to recognise the days we are living in and preach the word of the Lord. Now is not the time to think “oh I don’t want to hurt that person’s feelings or we don’t want to scare people.” The bible, God’s word, is truth! 

If you believe that there is a God, then you know there is a Satan, if you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you, so that you may be saved from eternal damnation, then you believe there is a Heaven and there is a Hell. How do you know this - the Bible! So if you believe that, then you believe what is written in the Bible. If you believe the Bible is truth - then you also believe and understand the nature of our Heavenly Father and Creator! I don’t care if you don’t want to believe that our Father will not send us to eternal damnation, yes He is a God that loves, but He is also a God of wrath. Think about it this way, when you were a child, did your parents discipline you for being naughty or did they praise you for your disobedience? They would have done the former, why, because they love you - they want you to learn and develop from your mistakes. That is why God chastises us for the sins and actions we take. It is not about scaring or hurting peoples feelings, it is about the Lord convicting you of your sinful nature, you repent from your sins and turn from your ways, heading into the arms of the Lord our Saviour. 1 Corinthians 11:32 AMP says, “But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined [by undergoing His correction] so that we will not be condemned [to eternal punishment] along with the world.”. Therefore, it is not about sparing people’s feelings, or using emotions as a reason to not speak the truth or excessively using scriptures that talks about the grace of God or no condemnation to excuse/condone sinful behaviours, so the individuals feel they can continue to offend. It is about speaking the truth of God’s word! We want conviction in our lives, that way we know that the Holy Spirit is still working within us, and chastises us when He needs to. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:6 AMP “For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves, And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].” The truth is what sets us free, dancing to the tune of our feelings/emotions and not wanting to be told the truth doesn’t set us free. If I wasn’t being convicted of my sins, I would worry!

Recently, I was reading Colossians and Timothy, and like most of the time when I read the bible I find myself meditating on certain scriptures that stand out to me, it is during these times the Lord speaks. On this occasion I was meditating on the Blood of Christ, which eventually led me to the blood of the lamb which was used in Exodus 12, where God instructed the Israelites via Moses to put the blood of the lamb on the two door posts and the lintel of the house. The purpose of this was to protect the Israelites from the final judgement - the plague, so that when the Lord passed through the land of Egypt, and He sees the blood on the door posts, the judgment will pass over the Israelites and strike the first borns of the land. This then brought me to the Blood which was shed on the Cross, the Blood that cleanses us from all our sins, if we walk in His light (1 John 1:7). The Blood that saves us from His wrath (Romans 5:9). It got me thinking, if His Blood saves us from His wrath, then those who have fully submitted to Him, and His Holy Spirit is evident in those that love Him, He has sealed them with His Blood from the coming judgement and will reward them for overcoming sin, temptation and Satan, by being caught up in the rapture, Revelation 3:10 says, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Let’s look at the past judgements that have taken place in the Bible:

• After the fall of man, God expelled Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, because of their sin. Their son Shem was the start of the Messianic line 
• Due to the depravity of humanity’s sinful life, the Flood was sent to remove all sin. Noah and his family were saved from the Flood. Noah’s family procreated the earth
• The whole earth had one language however, due the rebellious nature of humanity, with a view to try and oppose God by building the Tower of Babel. God scattered them abroad over the face of the earth, confusing their language.
• Again, due to man’s depravity Sodom and Gomorrah was also under judgement, the Lord rained down fire and brimstone burning up the city. Lot and his family were saved.
• Famine was spread across the land of Egypt and Canaan. Joseph was appointed second in command over all of Egypt and was in charge of distribution of grain to ensure all were saved from the famine that ensued. Jacob and family were saved.
• Judgement on the Egyptians for enslaving the Israelites (Jacob’s descendants). Plagues were poured out over Pharaoh and his people for not letting God’s people go. Israelites were not impacted by the plagues
• As mentioned in the ‘All eyes on Israel’ blogs, the Israelites also went through judgement/captivity because of their disobedience, rebellion and wanting to do things in their own way. Although, as you read through the various books like Jeremiah, Daniel, Isaiah, Amos, Ezra, Nehemiah etc these were all prophets sent to warn and instruct on God’s word to the people.

Throughout every judgement or impending judgement, there is a remanent that is marked and saved from the outpouring of God’s wrath. Whilst during the time of the Israelites captivity some of these prophets were taken too - it did not stop the hand of God being upon their lives, He fought their battles and protected them.

So when we think about the coming judgement that will come upon the earth, as previously mentioned, only those that the Lord has sealed/marked are His remanent and will be saved through the coming rapture and taken into Glory, (Ephesians 1:13-14). 

Unfortunately, it is during this time we will see many christians will be left behind, because they were not sealed by God. Not because God chose not to seal/mark them, but because of the decisions the christian people made at the time. If we go back to the scripture when Jesus says in Matthew 24:36-39 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Now, it is not wrong to get married etc but what Jesus is saying here is, that people will be so caught up with the cares of this life, they will be so focused on the things of this world, they will be distracted by the day to day, that they will not pay attention to the signs or take heed what is being said to them, that when Jesus does come like a “thief in the night,” no one will know that He returned until they see missing people. What a mayhem that will be across the Globe. People wanting answers to understand where their loved ones have gone. 

Christians that have been left behind will come to understand what has happened, and some sinners who have family members and friends who knew the Lord, will soon realise too, but there will be others whose eyes are closed and will not understand. Some christians who have been left behind will realise why they were left behind, for some it'll be because they did not believe in the rapture and therefore, were not looking or ready for his return. For others, it'll be that they were christians in name only and not through the fruits of the Spirit. They didn’t have a relationship with God, they had religion. They were doing all the “right things” perhaps going to church every Sunday, tithing every month, being a part of christian groups,  may even read the Bible regularly, even possibly evangelising on the street. However, if they did not welcome the Holy Spirit, if their heart was not open to the changes that God wants to make, if in their heart they were not prioritising their relationship in spending time with the Lord, and they were not allowing the Holy Spirit to change them from the inside out where you can see the evidence of the fruits of the Spirit, then they didn’t know God.

Some may say ‘how can I say that?’ Well, simply put, demons know the scriptures and yet, still enemies of God. We know this when the devil tried to tempt Jesus three times in the wilderness and in one of the tests he used scripture to back up his point in Matthew 4:5-6 “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Just because you can quote scriptures from cover to cover doesn’t mean you have a relationship with God. We also know that the enemy poses as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:13-14 says “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” In addition, Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

We know the great falling away is happening, we have seen this for ourselves. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” 

Those christians that will be left behind, will be the ones who were not willing to let go of the world, who still had one foot in and one foot out. Who still wanted to do the things that pleased their flesh and were not in the place where they were waiting for Jesus’ return. In Luke 21:34-36 it says “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there will not be a chance to get your heart right after the rapture. But it will be ten times harder to serve the Lord in that time then it is now, because of the coming persecution that the christians will suffer, some will have to die a physical death for their faith so that they can inherit eternal life with Christ. I will go into more detail in part 2 of this blog, but I’ll leave you with this -  isn’t it better for you to submit your flesh to the Lord, kill all worldly habits in your life now and be caught up with Christ during the rapture then to wait until after? If you are reading this now, and you know within your heart, you are acting only in religion and not in the Holy Spirit - get your heart right today! Ask God to strip away religion and give you a heart that is of God. It is not about the doing that saves you, it is about fully surrendering to God so he can change you and make you into his image (2 Corinthians 3:18), being pleasing, blameless and holy in his sight (1 Thessalonians 3:13). If you don't know the Lord at all - please, please heed these words, the Lord is coming back! I don't want you to be left behind. I don't wish what is about to happen to the world on my worst enemy, I want all to come to the Lord and be saved. Give your life today! Amen x