Eventually…

“And in that day Jehovah of Hosts called for weeping and mourning, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth.  But behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, saying, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!  And it was revealed in my ears by Jehovah of Hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be atoned until you die, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.”  Isaiah 22:12-14

 

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your calamities that are coming upon you.  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.  Indeed the wages of the laborers who reaped your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.  You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.  You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.  Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.  You also be patient. Make your hearts firm, for the coming of the Lord draws near.  Do not grumble against one another, brethren, that you not be condemned. Behold, the Judge stands at the door.”  Jacob (James) 5:1-9

 

The world is not becoming a better place, in fact should we expect it to?  For we know that eventually the time will come where what has been prophesied will be fulfilled, starting with the Rapture and then culminating with the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), better known as the Tribulation, with the then return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ coming with all of His saints (Zec. 14:15).  Yet we live in a world where people are by and large ignoring these great truths.

 

For each individual a decision is to be made while they are upon this earth.  That decision is whether or not they will individually repent towards God and by faith believe into Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross for their sins and rose again.

 

…“testifying both to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Acts 20:21

 

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has established a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has appointed. He has given assurance of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”  Acts 17:30-31

 

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:  Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but gave Himself over to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.”  1st Peter 2:21-24

 

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until the present time, but some have fallen asleep.  After that He was seen by Jacob, then by each of the apostles.  Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one of untimely birth.”  1st Corinthians 15:3-8

 

Yet God also has a line in the sand, one of which is true for the amount of time that each individual treads upon this earth, as well as for all of humanity that will be alive when the line is drawn, the Rapture takes place and the inhabitants of the earth are left behind. 

 

“And he said to me, Do not seal the Words of the Prophecy of this Book, for the time is at hand.  He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.  And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to what his work shall be.”  Revelation 22:10-12

 

We live in a world where hardly a preacher will discuss these sorts of things anymore.  We live in a world where people do not care to hear about these things.  We live in a world where despite it being obvious that should the time be soon for these things to take place, as we can already see what could easily be the beginning (Matt. 24:32-33), by and large people are eating, drinking and giving in marriage, in some instances, partying and living like there is no tomorrow.

 

“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and did not realize until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”  Matthew 24:38-39

 

There are those who hope and pray for a revival to come, for repentance to come, for God to allow large changes to take place and I certainly would also love to see these things, myself having often prayed for the United States to come to repentance in the past, but I also know that eventually the time will come, eventually.

 

There is going to be a generation that will be left behind.  There is going to be a generation that will see the trees of the forest burned up (Rev. 8:7), as well as the grass.  There is a generation that will face the Antichrist’s world government system that will cause much death and suffering on the face of the earth.

 

Awhile back I posted an article entitled Emergency!, essentially discussing what I see as a potential spring board for these events to take place.  In all reality it could be 200 years from now or simply tomorrow, with none of these theoretical things of this world happening.  For there is nothing else that needs to take place prior to the Rapture.

 

Yet what we have is a world, particularly those that call themselves ‘christian’ societies, who are eating and drinking, having a good time, for they see, they sense that things in our society are starting to go bad.  In fact, I have seen articles on the reasonings of people behind some relatively recent splurges of money on luxury items and exotic vacations, or for many new furniture and a standard vacation, that being that they are ‘just going to live life’ for they ‘only live once.’

 

The Bible says, “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”  Romans 14:8

 

The world is well routed in problems that seemingly are getting worse at a mind blowing rate.  While a brief amount of reprieve might be seen here and there, it always then seems to continue on a spiral towards the bottom.  So, in that regard, would there not be some unwise logic of those who are on the broad path that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13) that they might as well enjoy their life, for their end is eternity in the Lake of Fire?

 

“And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away. And there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, out of the things which were written in the books.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one, according to their works.  And Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.”  Revelation 20:11-15

 

Yet why not turn to God Almighty who sent His Son to die on the Cross for our sins?

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  The one believing into Him is not judged; but the one not believing is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But the one doing the truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been worked in God.”  John 3:16-21

 

“For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not of works, that no one should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9

 

For Jesus was quite clear when He stated the following:

 

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Mark 8:36-37

 

For a moment, let me focus on the conditions of the United States, taking into some account what is also happening around the world, reminding people that these things have been heading in this direction for years, only now they are accelerating to the point where it is starting to have quite an effect on much of the population.  I might also add that these problems had been ongoing and worsening much in the past two years, prior to Russia invading Ukraine.

 

The cost of housing, including rentals, has increased to a staggering amount in most areas of the country where one could even fathom to earn a living.  Let me use a few examples of my own, as I have done my research and have always been fond of reading and keeping up on economic news.

 

Back in 2019 my family relocated from Kalispell, Montana to northeast Michigan.  As we arrived in the city of Alpena, there were over 50 homes (3+ bedroom) for under $50k.  Now I don’t believe any of these homes were without necessity of doing some sort of work to them, for they were all time capsules, but for double the money you could have gotten a move-in-ready home.  Now these are all gone and the prices have went up substantially.

 

In Kalispell, where we moved from, we rented a 2 bedroom condo, with a bonus room and a garage, in a nice part of town for $750 per month.  Those places back in 2019 were worth about $150k, now they are worth around $350k!  The average rent listed on a popular property management company for 2 bedroom places are now running between $2,200 and $2,400 a month!  I’m not quite sure who can afford that.

 

Currently we live in Rapid City, where thanks for the grace of God, He has provided the income necessary to live, as well as to keep up with our necessities and the increased cost of living.  Here we have seen from a year ago, prior to moving here, that the lower cost housing, of which we would be in the market for, should the time ever come, has increased by over a $100k in the past two years.

 

I have scoured the United States and indeed something has happened, the pricing far exceeds the housing bubble that came to an abrupt stop in 2009, starting with the beginning of troubles showing up in late 2007.  Now this same plaque has hit the rental markets, where I have watched the prices, even in rural places in America with lackluster economies go to what I can only surmise as being against Jesus’s commandment to “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Matt. 22:37b)  What I see is greed and one man taking advantage of another, whether a corporate entity or a person who wants to utilize the opportunity to ‘rob’ their neighbor with unjust gain.

 

I also have had a knack for memorizing numbers, particularly useful with grocery store prices.  Though nowadays it is harder and harder as the prices change so often.  This is something that everyone can relate to, just as the higher gas prices that most people pay.

 

How could it be that there was just news a few months ago on outlets that the government economic elite workers ‘thought’ we might have a housing bubble when pricing had already surpassed that of the former housing boom?!  I’ll leave that at that.

 

There are rumors flying everywhere and then there are articles running about how Americans are just going to keep on enjoying life, irregardless of the prices, thinking back to the opening verse regarding living for today, rather than contemplating the things of God and perhaps the time for individual repentance and accepting Christ as their Savior might very well be now (2 Cor. 6:2).

 

In fact there was a local news article talking to a tourist who was visiting the Black Hills.  In the article she stated that even if gas were $8 a gallon, she wouldn’t change a thing.  As I stated with my friend and coworker in this ministry, that might be fine for you, but I simply don’t have endless money.  The Lord provides what is needed and while I would gladly love to save some money, thus far that hasn’t happened.

 

So what is going to happen, more stimulus checks, a real solution or is there an end game plan to all of this?  Are we living in those times where we are perhaps seeing these events unfold just prior to the starting gun of the Rapture?

 

For there are warnings from the United Nations and many other leaders about a coming global famine, but as one of the CEO’s of this country stated, Americans will still eat cake, they will just pay more.  The Bible also speaks of a global famine (Rev. 6:5-6).

 

I could go on and on about the worsening drought conditions, the increase in severe weather, things that are happening across the world (Matt. 24:6-8), not just the United States and ponder whether or not we ought to wake up and realize that we might be best off earnestly seeking our Creator, but likely it will just continue to fall on deaf ears.  For this isn’t the first time in history that people have had this attitude.

 

“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, Bring in, that we may drink.  The Lord Jehovah has sworn by His holiness that the days are coming that He will carry you away with meat hooks, and the last of you with fishhooks.  And you shall go out at the breaches, each woman before her; and you shall be cast into the high fortress, declares Jehovah.  Come to Bethel and transgress; multiply transgression at Gilgal; and bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every third year; and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven; cry out, call out the free-will offerings! For so you love to do, O sons of Israel, declares the Lord Jehovah.  And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; and you have not returned to Me, declares Jehovah.  And I have also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest. And I caused rain to fall on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One parcel of land was rained on, and the parcel where it did not rain was dried up.  So two or three cities staggered to one city in order to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me, declares Jehovah.  I have struck you with blasting and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards, and your figs, and your olives increased, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to Me, declares Jehovah.  I have sent a plague among you in the manner of Egypt; I have killed your young men with the sword, along with your captive horses. And I have made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; yet you have not returned to Me, declares Jehovah.  I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked out of the burning; yet you have not returned to Me, declares Jehovah.  Therefore I will do this to you, O Israel: Because of this that I will do to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.  For, behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what his thought is, He who makes the dawn darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth; Jehovah the God of Hosts, is His name.”  Amos 4

 

Perhaps God will grant repentance once again in America and around the world and people will see their despicable conditions before our Almighty God?  Yet one thing is certain, eventually the time will come when the line will have been drawn in the sand and that which was declared will take place (Isa. 42:9). 

 

“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.  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.  Let us walk decently, as in the day, not in carousings and drunkenness, not in cohabitation and licentiousness, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”  Romans 13:11-14

 

Do not be caught up with the majority in doing evil (Exod. 23:2), repent and believe the Gospel before it is too late!

 

Amen!