- The Visions of Judgment
This is a short story about a young man named Steven who was given dreams
from God that reveal truth God has shown me (the writer) that His Church needs
to hear. Though this is written as fiction, the words spoken by Jesus are actual words
that God showed me. So, this is not just a fictional work. It applies to our current
world and to the Church. I encourage you to seek God about this to find out what He
______________________________________
The Pastor’s Office
Steve saw the scene before him of the youth group vanish to be replaced with a
comfortably decorated office. A middle-aged man sat behind an oak desk talking
to a teen guy on the other side. Scattered throughout the room, framed snapshots of
basketball history captured players shooting hoops or slam-dunking. A couple of
Thomas Kinkade’s lighthouse paintings hung on either side of the office. A
window behind the man revealed a green, scratchy wall of juniper bushes
outside. High above the man’s head hung a painting of a cross and an empty
tomb.
“Pastor Ben,” Frank said as
he faced the middle-aged man across the desk. “God showed me he would like me
to give a message of warning to the church. He is calling out to people to
repent and seek Him, because judgment is soon to fall on this land, because it
has done wickedly before Him.”
Ben, who appeared to be in
his mid-fifties, had white hair at his temples but the rest of his hair was
black. A long grey goatee sprouted from his chin and reached down past the
collar of his dark green polo shirt. In his fingers he fidgeted with a silver pen.
“You’re telling me that God
showed you He wanted you to warn this church about judgment coming?” Ben said. “I
preach to the people, and I even tell them they should stay away from harmful
behaviors. Why would God want to warn the people of this church? I think we’re
doing a good work here.”
Frank, wearing a dark blue
T-shirt and carpenter jeans, was in the middle of a conversation when Steve saw
the scene appear before him, in this vision.
“I encourage you to seek God
about this,” Frank said with concern. “God has shown me that there are many
people in your church that do not know His Name. They say they are Christians,
but they have not truly asked Jesus to be their personal Savior and Lord. That
is what God shown me. He wants to warn them. Please, seek God about this.”
The older man grunted and
leaned back in his chair. A frown creased his face as he tapped his pen on the
oak desk. Ben closed his eyes, in thought, and opened them slowly several
seconds later. ‘What was Ben thinking about?’ Steve wondered. ‘Was he taking
the message seriously?’ Half a minute passed before the pastor spoke.
“Young man,” Ben said slowly
with a cold tone in his voice, “I think God is pleased with what we’re doing at
this church, and I believe you possibly may have heard from the wrong spirit.
But, just to be fair, I will seek God about this and see what He shows me. Is
there anything else you wish to talk about?”
Frank felt a sadness stir his
heart. He could tell that the pastor had rejected what he had just said. “Pastor
Ben, I encourage you to actually seek God with an open mind. God will show you
the truth.”
“Is there anything else I can
do for you?” Ben asked, seeking to get the young man out of his office.
Frank stood up and said, “I
know that if you seek God about this He will show you the truth.”
“You already said that. I
will seek Him.”
Frank left the office and the
pastor shut the door behind him. Once he was sure Frank was gone, Ben reached
for his phone and dialed some numbers. The phone rang three times before a man
on the other end picked up his phone.
“Hello Will,” Ben said, “this is Ben. I just got done talking with a boy from the youth group who says God gave him a message to warn the whole church with. His name is Frank Johnson. I want you and the other deacons to keep an eye on him because he says God wants him to warn the entire church. If you see him act up, I want you to usher him outside and tell him never to return. I will have a word with his parents at seven tonight. Clearly, this message has to be from the devil. It could not be from God because I am doing right by this church. The spirit Frank spoke with told him that many people in the church do not know God’s Name. I’ve preached to them for twenty-two years and I know God has been using me. …”
Time skipped ahead suddenly,
and Steve now saw the pastor bowing at his desk in his office. He had his hands
clasped together in prayer.
“Heavenly Father,” Ben said
out loud, “I have done good deeds for your Kingdom. I’ve ministered to many
people over the years and helped the poor. We’ve gone down to Mexico on several
mission trips to distribute food to the poor, and New Testaments to lost souls.
We started out with just a congregation of just 15 people and reached 300 just
last year.
“I taught them from your Word
every Sunday and Wednesday. I ministered to the people throughout the week. You
know how busy my schedule is. I can’t see how you would send a boy, who is not
even an adult, to warn this church to repent from sin, or how you could tell
him that many people here are lost, after all the preaching I’ve given them.
What a slap in the face that is to me. I can’t see how that can be from you.
So, Heavenly Father, please bless this church and remove this thorn from my
side. Amen.”
Ben opened his eyes, sighed,
and stood to his feet.
Steve could now see Jesus
standing beside the pastor and putting His hand on Ben’s shoulder. Jesus was
saying, “Ben, Ben, I am with you. I want you to seek Me and listen to My voice.
This young man who spoke to you is sent from Me to warn your church to repent
from their sins, and to forsake wickedness. I ordain and choose the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty. [1Corinthians 1:27. See “Footnote” A.].
“I use children to preach
repentance to the lost, and to warn those who claim to be My people. Frank is
being used by My Spirit to warn. Let him warn the body of Christ. Let him warn
the congregation on Sunday. Ben, you are resisting My Spirit. Return to Me,
son. Return and rest.
“Forsake doing things your
own way, and look to Me. I will fulfill you. Return to Me, Ben. And, I the LORD
your GOD have spoken.”
But Ben spoke up just as
Jesus was finishing. “This voice in my head must be a deceiving spirit. God,
this can’t be from you, can it? I’m doing right by these people. I can’t accept
this. Tell me, should I allow this young man to speak?”
Two voices reached the pastor’s
spiritual ears. Jesus standing beside him said: “Son, I want you to let Frank
speak, and I am certainly the Lord your God.”
But, another voice entered
into Ben’s thoughts and said: “You are doing well, Ben. I am your god. You have
been hearing from a deceitful spirit. Frank is being led by an evil spirit to
cause problems for you. Don’t let him speak at your church, for you are the
pastor, and you must not let him interfere with my order in the church.”
Steve could now see an evil
spirit placing his scaly hand into Ben’s head. The spirit resembled a faun, or
a goat-man, with black dragon wings. It had piercing red eyes and sharp teeth
from which dripped black liquid.
The pastor seemed unsure
about both voices. He seemed to be struggling over which to believe. But, the
demon’s words were more appealing to Ben than Jesus Christ’s message.
“Lord God, what should I say
to Frank’s parents?” Ben asked, trying to ignore the conviction he felt that he
was resisting God’s Spirit. The demon,
who he couldn’t see, placed his fingers into Ben’s head again.
“Tell them,” the demon said
as it flicked its serpent-like tongue, “that their son is seeking to disrupt
the order of the church, and that you are concerned that he is hearing from an
evil spirit. Tell them that you would like them to meet with you and the elders
of the church to discuss their son Frank’s spiritual condition.”
“Yes Lord,” Ben said, “I’ll
do that.”
“Ben, follow my voice,” Jesus
said. “I am speaking with you. Seek Me more about this. An evil spirit has been
speaking with you.”
Ben squinted. “Did you say
that, Lord God?”
“Yes, My son,” Jesus said. “I
love you, and I want you to know that Frank is called to warn the church. Don’t
resist My Spirit. I will guide him in what he says and I will work it out well.”
Ben cringed. He couldn’t
accept that a teen boy would be called to preach and warn the church, and he,
the pastor, would be just watching it happening. It was humiliating to think
about. People would wonder why it was that Ben had not warned them and that a
young man was called to do what the pastor should have been doing.
“My son,” Jesus said, “if you
repent before Me and seek My face, I will have you warn the Church instead of
Frank. But, if you will not warn the Church, Frank will go. And, I the LORD
your God have spoken.”
Ben cringed at the thought
that Frank would speak instead of him, but Ben couldn’t accept that he was not
doing his job as a pastor. He felt he did good works and taught the people
well. If he didn’t speak much about repenting from sin, so what? [See “Footnote” B.]. He felt he gave them
good messages. They seemed happy with his preaching. Well, some people did
wonder why he rarely or never preached about sin and judgment, but they were
very few compared to the majority.
“Ben, My son,” Jesus said, “seek
Me and you will be blessed. I will show you what I want you to know. Seek Me,
Ben.”
But, Ben shook his head and
cringed. He wished that Frank had never spoken to him. He wanted to have a
normal routine and a smooth pace. But now, Ben felt, Frank had thrown a monkey
wrench into the machine, and Ben’s heart felt very convicted. He had two
options, Steve realized. Either Ben would soften his heart, and repent, and
seek God’s will, or he would resist God’s will and not actually seek God.
“Now My son,” Jesus said to
Steve, “we will visit the church three Sundays later. You will see what has
happened to Ben at that time. And, you will see how Frank follows My leading in
the message I have called him to give the church. And, I the LORD your God have
spoken.”
_______________________
The Message to the Church
Steve suddenly appeared in
the middle of a fairly large auditorium, which could seat about a thousand
people. A circular platform at the back of the room was filled with a worship
band. A drummer pounded away (but Steve couldn’t hear the sound) while electric
guitars played a popular Christian song. After a minute or two, they finished
the last song and began to put their instruments away, and carried the
microphones to the rear of the stage.
Right as the band was leaving
the stage, a young man stood up from his chair in the front row and climbed
onto the stage. It was Frank, Steve realized. A microphone on a stand was
resting a few feet from the lectern or pulpit. Frank stood before it and began
to speak to the crowd with earnestness and boldness Steve hadn’t seen in him
before:
“God has called me to warn
you to seek Him and repent from any sin in your lives He is convicting you
about. He wants you to know Him personally and deeply.”
As Frank said this, Steve
noticed four deacons at the back of the room were speaking to each other in
hushed tones.
Frank continued to say: “God
gave us salvation through Jesus Christ so that we can know Him as our Father
and Savior, and have a personal relationship with Him. But, sin keeps us from
having a close walk with God.”
Ben approached the deacons
and spoke to them with a little bit of anger in his face. Steve was allowed to
hear him say, “We can’t let him keep preaching.”
“Sin brings us onto a path
that will eventually lead to damnation, because a rebellious soul cannot enter
Heaven,” Frank said. “Hebrews 10:26-31 warns us about how a born-again
Christian can harden his heart to a point where he tramples underfoot the blood
of Jesus Christ, and denies his own Lord. Sin is what leads him to rebellion,
but repentance is the answer for a guilty conscience. Jesus came to save us
from the consequences of sin, which are eternal separation from God in Hell and
eternal suffering. These are the reasons Jesus Christ died for us, and rose
again.
“So, trust in Jesus Christ
alone to save you, and seek to know Him. Forsake sin because that will harm
you, and look to God for help. Joseph fled from Potiphar’s adulterous wife. [See “Footnote” C.]. We must flee
from temptations and look to God for help. Knowing God as our best Friend is
the answer to temptations. And, God desires us to know Him better. In John
17:3, Jesus said, ‘And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’
This is important --”
Suddenly, the power to the
microphone was cut, and Frank’s voice lost the amplification. The four deacons
were hurrying down the aisles toward him.
“Seek God,” Frank shouted so
that he could be heard, “because sin will keep you from Him. Don’t think that
your good works will outweigh your bad, because God’s Word says, in Isaiah
64:4, that all our works of righteousness are as filthy rags.”
The deacons grabbed him by
the arms and forcefully ushered him outside through an exit. But, Frank offered
no resistance, knowing Jesus was with him.
As they ushered him out,
Frank shouted so he could be heard, “Turn to Jesus and truly make Him your Lord
and Savior. Repent from any sin you are aware of and seek to know God as your
best Friend.”
Steve was instantly taken to
the outside of the building where he witnessed a scene unfold before him. An
exit door was shoved open and the deacons brought Frank through, and released their
hold on his arms once he was outside. A frowning deacon crossed his arms and
stood in front of the door to block Frank’s possible reentry.
“We ask you to leave these
premises right away,” a deacon said, drilling him with a cold look.
The exit door opened a few
seconds later, and a man and a woman came out.
“Why did you take my son away
while he was in the middle of speaking?” Frank’s dad said.
“He was disrupting the
service and we had to maintain order,” a different deacon said stiffly.
“He wasn’t disrupting the
service,” Frank’s mother said calmly. “He was giving a message God wanted him
to speak.”
“Please, sir, would you
kindly take your family and leave these premises?” the first deacon said to
Frank’s dad.
“The people need to repent
and seek God,” Frank said, with concern in his face. “Would you let me speak to
them some more?”
Three deacons kept their
mouths shut but a fourth one said, “You are stirring up trouble and the pastor
didn’t authorize you to speak. Now, please leave.”
Reluctantly, Frank turned and
walked away, and his parents followed a few feet to his left. Steve saw Jesus
appear beside Frank, walking beside him, placing an arm around his shoulders to
comfort him. Steve also sensed Jesus Christ’s presence beside him.
After going about twenty
yards, Frank stopped, feeling a heavy burden on his chest. “Dear Jesus,” he
said, quietly, “what should I do? I thought you wanted me to warn this church,
but they threw me out.”
“Frank, My son,” Jesus said,
smiling at him, “I am with you. The elders, the pastor, and the deacons
rejected the message I had you give. The youth pastor, Stan, is mostly closed
to it too, but Stan is still wondering if it might be of Me. Pray for him, but
you have done your part. You have warned them.
“Now, they will be given
opportunity to repent and seek Me, but if they will not repent, and if they
will harden their hearts greatly against Me, then I cannot let them enter
Heaven. Their hearts are already very hardened against Me, and the pastor Ben
is very hardened against Me at this time. Soon, I will have to harden his
heart, if he will not repent.”
Somehow in this vision or
dream, Steve had been able to hear Jesus speaking to Frank. Now, he was curious
about what Jesus had just said.
“Dear Jesus, what does it
mean for you to harden their hearts?” Steve asked Jesus (who stood beside him)
and gazed into his Lord’s loving face and green eyes, which sparkled with life
and peace.
“My son,” Jesus said, “it
means that they would have hardened their hearts so much that they would never
want to repent or seek Me, and never will turn to Me, no matter how much I call
out to them. That is why I would have to set a mark or a sign over the door of
their heart that says there is no vacancy.
“Their hearts are close to
being completely filled up with sin and rebellion because they did not want to
know Me, or seek Me, or do My will, but they just wanted to pursue their own
agendas and their own will. If they will not repent, they will certainly continue
to harden their hearts until the day of judgment, where I will say to them that
I never knew them.
“Because, even though they
may still be saved at this time, if they will not repent from their sins, I
will declare that I never knew them because the short amount of time in which
they have known Me on earth is nothing compared to eternity. If a man
served Me his entire life, and refused to repent, and refused to
forsake sin at the end of his life, and if he continued to do so, I would
have to blot out his name from the book of life.
“When his name is blotted
out, the records say that I do not know him. He never was one of My sheep, nor
was he ever one of the elect. The elect are those who I foreknow will be in
Heaven, because they have continued to rest in Me and obey Me. Now, if
they rebel, I will forgive them, if they do not greatly harden their hearts
against Me. But, those who rebel and who will not repent, no matter how much I
call out to them, will certainly not be part of My Kingdom because they loved
the world and their own will more than they loved Me. That is true. And, I
the LORD your God have spoken.”
“But, Lord,” Steve said, “how
do people know if they are too hardened to repent?”
“My son,” Jesus said,
lovingly, “if a man, or woman, or child wants to repent from sin and truly
forsake it, I will by no means cast them out. [See
“Footnote” D.]. I will certainly forgive them for their sin. The
sin that cannot be forgiven is a heart that hardens itself, and refuses to
recognize that it needs to repent, and that it ought to repent.
“A hardened soul may say that
they ought to repent, but they never actually will repent because they have
made up their mind and heart that they are ‘right,’ and that they can continue
sinning and ‘justifying’ their sin. If they humble themselves and repent, they
will not have ever committed the unforgivable sin. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Steve said. “I think I
do. But, if You say that You never knew them, how can it be that they once were
saved?”
Jesus said with some sadness
in His eyes: “I never foreknew them as My sheep or as My elect because I
knew ahead of time that they would choose, of their own free will, to forsake
Me, and reject Me, and not turn back to Me. So, they never were the elect,
and they never were My true sheep. They were saved, but they rejected Me,
and forsook Me, and refused to turn back to Me. Therefore, I did not foreknow
them or know them as My elect. That is certainly correct, My son.”
____________________
Waking from the Dream
Suddenly, the scene changed,
and the church building parking lot vanished before Steve’s eyes. He saw the
dark of his eyelids with a faint amount of light shining through. Steve sat up
in bed and blinked. After a minute or so, he stretched, yawned and lowered his
feet to the carpet in the basement bedroom of his parent’s home. Everything he
had experienced for the last eight hours had been a long dream or vision. He
wanted to write it down so that none of it would be lost.
Steve walked over to his
maple reading desk and clicked on a reading lamp. He opened a drawer in his
wooden dresser and pulled out an older laptop that he used for writing. It had
no internet access and was just used as a word processor. He powered the
computer on and waited for it to load. As he waited, he exhaled slowly as he
thought about all the things he had seen and heard. This was a powerful and
concerning vision or dream, and he wanted to share it with his friends and
family. They needed to know what was coming to this country.
After Steve had written down
some notes, he leaned back in his chair, sensing that God wanted to speak to
him.
“My son, Steve,” Jesus said
to his spirit and soul, “I am with you. I have a message I want you to write
down to share with your family, and with your relatives, and with your friends.
They will soon be experiencing a shaking that will shock them to hear about,
and will shock them to experience.
“Soon, their world will
change and they will wake up seeing the very things your dreams spoke of. They
will see concentration camps, riots, chaos, economic problems, inflation, and
martial law. They will be shocked to see all these things unfold in their
lives, but the worst it yet to come. For, indeed, the Antichrist will arise and
will require that all men and women get the mark of the Beast, without which
they could neither buy nor sell.
“But, those who look to Me
shall be delivered from this wicked system, and I shall provide for all their
physical, and emotional, and spiritual needs. I shall meet all their needs.
Now, go and share that message with them. And, I the LORD your GOD have spoken.”
Steve thought about what God
had just told him. He remembered that his dad, Harry, had mentioned that there
would be a family reunion with Harry’s side of the family in about a week. It
was to be held in a nearby city park. They would have a barbecue and potluck.
Then, some of his cousins, like Robert and Bruce Jones, might bring a projector
to play a movie or go to a theater to see a new release. Steve didn’t feel like
he really wanted to warn them because he felt inadequate, but he knew that God
chose the weak for His purposes.
“My son,” Jesus said, “I will
go with you wherever you go. I will be your Guide even until death. I will
never leave you, nor forsake you. Warn your cousins, and uncles, and aunts
about the judgment that is coming, but I will be with your mouth to give you
the words to say. I will guide you. Now, rest, and let My be your Strength.
And, I the LORD your God have spoken.”
“Thank you that you will be
with me,” Steve said. “I really need your help. I will do your will. And, you
will go with me. Thanks.”
“Rest, My son,” Jesus said.
Steve breathed deeply and
relaxed. A sense of calm came over him as he thought about what God was calling
him to actually do. His cousins and relatives needed to be aware of the
judgment coming. He didn’t know exactly how they would respond, but he hoped
they would be open and receptive.
____________________
(Note: All human characters in this story are fictional. But, Jesus Christ is truly real and is the living God. And, the devil is real and seeks to devour whom he may. This is simply a novel with prophetic messages from God. I encourage you to seek God about the words spoken by Jesus to see what He will show you about them.)
Footnotes:
(A.) 1 Corinthians 1:27 says: “But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty;”
(B.) Ben didn’t think he needed to preach repentance from
sin because it would offend his audience. But, Jesus constantly warned his listeners
to forsake sin.
In Mark 9:47-48, Jesus warned
us to remove anything that would lead us into sin. He said: “[47] And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is
better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two
eyes to be cast into hell fire: [48] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire
is not quenched.” Jesus is teaching us to forsake what leads us to sin,
and not hold onto it. He doesn’t actually mean that you have to pull out your
eye.
(C.) In Genesis 39:11-13, Joseph fled from
Potiphar’s wife because she was tempting him to commit fornication with him. He
was figuratively removing his
eye, or what would lead him into sin.
(D.) In John
6:37, Jesus said: “All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” [If
we seek God and turn to Him, He will not cast us out.]
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