Luke 13:3, 15:7; Revelation 6:12-17, 9:1-21, 16:8-9
Some time ago, I had the opportunity to participate in an online study of the book of Revelation with a fellow pastor and dear friend in the LORD. He had been describing to the viewers of his program some of the possible scenarios that will appear on the earth during the time of what Scripture refers to as “the Great Tribulation” (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:21), a period of time where God judges the world for its rebellion, wickedness, and hatred of all things holy as pertaining to the Gospel and its message of redemption through the work of Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12, 16:31; Romans 5:6-11, 10:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:7-12; Revelation 1:8).
It is during this time that God will allow evil to run its full course in the person of the Antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3; 2 John 7; Revelation 13:1-10). Before this judgment is poured upon the earth, all those who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation will have been raptured to meet the LORD in the air to be with Him always (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 4:13-18).
The book of Revelation has a logical flow of historical and supernatural events occurring on Earth and within the portals of heaven. When we arrive in heaven, we will behold, as did the apostles John and Paul (2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Revelation, Chapters 4, 5), the glory, wonder, holiness, and majesty of God Almighty with the heavenly realm offering Him praise and worship. We will see His plans put into action to be fulfilled for His glory.
He will not tolerate sin any longer. His justice will fall on both deviant humanity and the hellish creatures who have maligned, blasphemed, denied, and hated Him since the Fall in Eden (Genesis 3). His promise to make all things new will come to pass (Revelation 21:1), evil will be judged and punished (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11-15), and Paradise (Genesis 1, 2) will be recreated again, lasting for eternity.
In Revelation Chapters 6 and 8, God pours out a series of judgments upon the world that grow in intensity. For seven years, the unredeemed will witness and suffer plagues upon the wildlife, plants, waters, and overall living conditions. These approaching judgments and their consequences ought to terrify and awaken every person in this world. Everyone should tremble over their sins, repent now, and surrender their lives to the saving grace, mercy, and peace offered by God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and listen to the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 6:2).
There will be multitudes during the time of the Great Tribulation who come to Christ (Revelation 7:9-17). These people were unbelievers who were left behind at the Rapture, yet by the mercy of God, the Holy Spirit, had their eyes opened to what has occurred. These are the “Tribulation Saints,” and many of them will be killed for their faith (Revelation 20:4). These dear brethren in the LORD are part of the redeemed, but at a tremendous cost.
What amazes me is even with all of the literal hell on earth that God promises is coming, people will still harden their hearts and turn against Him. They will deliberately and defiantly reject the Lord Jesus Christ, the only hope of rescue that God Almighty, in His mercy, provides during that terrifying time.
The ninth chapter of Revelation describes an angel coming to Earth to open what is referred to as a “bottomless pit” (9:2), words that describe the horror and viciousness of hell. The pit is opened, allowing fierce and savage demons to bring torment upon anybody who has rejected the saving offer of God. These creatures are ordered not to touch the foliage of the world (what’s left of it by this time) but to inflict the unredeemed with pain equal to the sting of a scorpion. This pain will be so unbearable that people will beg to die in order to have relief. For five months, these beings from hell will continually torment anyone who has chosen to reject God and His offer of salvation.
This is bad enough, but upon reading further, four malevolent angels who had rebelled against God and then were bound at the river Euphrates are released to slaughter one-third of humanity. On top of this, an army of 200,000,000 marches upon the world, along with an outbreak of varied plagues. Whether this is an actual human or demonic army is a point of discussion. The consequence of this slaughter is that out of a population estimated as of 2024 to be 8,000,000,000, the body count at this point in Revelation is 2,000,000,000, with the full force of judgment yet to come.
You would think that common sense and the collapse of everything would bring people to their knees in repentance, begging God for forgiveness of their sins and embracing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I am afraid not, and the trouble is that some who may be reading this message are going to find themselves in the situation as described in Scripture:
“And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, DID NOT REPENT of the works of their hands, so as to not worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor their immorality nor of their thefts” (Revelation 9:20-21, NASB).
Let me put it to you as plain as day. If you have spent your life denying God’s existence or used His Holy name to curse someone, or as a weapon to protect your political ideology or lifestyle, and have turned against Him in order to serve Satan and his so-called “offers of power and control,” or do anything else to denigrate, revile, blaspheme, slander, and mock Him (Romans 1:18-22), deliberately deciding to turn from His free offer of salvation and grace (Matthew 11:28-30; John 10:28-30, 11:25, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Hebrews 4:14-16, 7:25), then you WILL witness this taste of hell on Earth. And what is so tragic is that it won’t affect your conscience or soul one bit (Proverbs 29:1).
God Almighty, through His Holy Word (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21), gives you a warning of what awaits you as you suffer the horrors of the Great Tribulation. The release of these wretched beings from the pit and the death and misery they will inflict upon you will be just a preview of the torment you will endure and the company you will keep in hell when all is done, judged, and made final at the end of days according to Scripture (Revelation 20:11-15). This one chapter describes just a few of the horrors to descend on this world. The time is fast approaching for everything to fall into place. Do not deny it, and do not doubt me.
Right now, some of you may think that you will get away with all of the malevolent deeds and thoughts you have committed in your life, and you will rewarded by the devil for your faithful service. My friend, you are the victim of the biggest lie, con job, and assault on your eternal soul by the devil, a created, limited, vile creature (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19) who has nothing to gain from his wickedness except to somehow believe that He can “spite” God by taking you to the same hell he and his demons are heading to at the end of time (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).
God takes no pleasure in the death nor judgment of a wicked person (Ezekiel 18:23), but on the day when you and everyone else who rejected Jesus Christ stand before Him at the Great White Throne for the final judgment, He will put you in the place of your own choosing. The reason you end up in hell is because you choose to rebel against God, follow the devil, engage in your own wickedness, and end up paddling your own canoe down to perdition forever.
Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross to prevent you from hell and eternal judgment. He willingly took your sins and mine upon Himself, rescuing us from the sin debt we cannot pay (Ephesians 2:8-9). He offers you forgiveness of sins that will no longer be remembered or held against you (Psalm 103:12). He offers you freedom from the bonds of sin, a new life, a new purpose, and a new world to come. Why would you want to throw that away? Why remain in your present state of rebellion and witness the approaching hell on Earth that is the sum and substance of God’s wrath, of which we are seeing a foretaste now?
I implore you as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and maybe the one person willing to be truthful and honest with you, PLEASE repent of your sins and surrender your life to Jesus Christ now! If what we read in Revelation is true (and it is), why would you want to delay or deny what is obviously upon us? All this, and yet you will not repent? Do not make such a foolish and eternally deadly decision.
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The post All This, and Yet You Will Not Repent :: By Donald Whitchard appeared first on Rapture Ready.
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