THE ONLY HOPE IN THE COMING STORM!

God promised the prophet Zechariah that he would be a protective wall of fire around his people in the last days: "For I, say Yehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about..." (Zechariah 2:5).

Likewise, Isaiah testifies: "For you has been a... shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall" (Isaiah 25:4). "There shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain" (Isaiah 4:6).

These promises are meant to comfort us beforehand; all the prophets warn of a great storm coming in the final days, which will beat against God's wall of protection with ferocity!

Indeed, Jesus says this coming storm will be so frightful and overwhelming, that people's hearts will fail them as they see it developing (see Luke 21:26).

Now, if Jesus says this storm is going to be ferocious, we know it will be an awesome moment in history. Yet, the Bible assures us God - Yehovah never sends judgment on any society without first revealing to his prophets what he plans to do: "Surely Yehovah will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

This is a marvelous expression of Yehovah’s great love for His people. And if you study the biblical prophets' writings carefully, you'll see that God - Yehovah acts this way consistently. Just before an impending storm of judgment, he always commands his prophets to warn the people to return to him: "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and ...by the ministry of the prophets" (Hosea 12:10).

Moreover, God - Yehovah is faithful to speak in times of prosperity, just before the fury of his judgment strikes. While the storm clouds are still gathering, he raises up prophetic voices all over the land. And, according to scripture, whenever a sinful nation was prosperous and at peace, God - Yehovah told his prophets to warn that the good times soon would end: "...Yehovah has cried by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity..." (Zechariah 7:7).

At times God - Yehovah made his message so strong, that He instructed his spokesmen to issue cutting, searing warnings: "Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth..." (Hosea 6:5). In other words: "The word I bring will be so clear, it will smite you if your heart is open at all. It will cause you to fall on your face and repent!"

We always have to keep in mind, that God's – Yehovah’s only purpose in lovingly calling us back to Himself is to protect us in such times of storm. Yet often in the biblical record, when He gave these warnings, the people refused to listen: "He sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto Yehovah; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear" (2 Chronicles 24:19).

Almost always, God's – Yehovah’s people grew weary of these warnings. This was especially true if a prophet cried out about a coming storm over the years, but the society only continued to be prosperous and at peace. Over time, the people simply switched off the prophet's voice. They simply didn't want to hear it anymore.

We see this in the Israelites' response to the prophet Isaiah. They told him: "...Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits" (Isaiah 30:10).

Can you imagine ever falling into such a condition? These people knew Isaiah was telling the truth - that a great storm was coming- but they got tired of hearing about it! They preferred to hear "smooth things." And the Hebrew word for "smooth" here means "pleasant, unperturbed." They were telling Isaiah, in other words: "Don't preach anything to us that will upset the status quo or make us nervous!"

This very condition is creeping into the called-out Assembly of the lord Messiah Jesus today. Believers who have been devoted to the lord Messiah Jesus for years now turn on their television sets only to see more horrible reports of violence, disasters, hunger, crime, and immorality. After a while, their minds become satiated with all the bad news, and their hearts become hardened to it. To them, even the worst news reports are "just another news story."

I often wonder: Can anything move us anymore? We've already heard every type of bad news we could possibly hear. What disaster or calamity is left that could shock us?

Beloved, God - Yehovah is appalled by this kind of response among His people! We see this in the warnings of the prophet Ezekiel. At the time Ezekiel prophesied, Israel was prosperous and at peace with the surrounding nations. Yet Yehovah told Ezekiel to give the people this message: "I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountain of Israel shall be desolate ...because of all their abominations which they have committed" (Ezekiel 33:28-29).

The prophet went up and down the land, preaching God's – Yehovah’s warnings over several years. But the people grew weary of listening to him. After all, over the years not one of Ezekiel's words had come to pass. On the contrary, the nation only grew more prosperous!

Over time, Ezekiel's prophecies became a source of entertainment for the people. They began calling him names behind his back names that were probably similar to the ones I've been called over the years: "Doomsday preacher," "The man who never smiles," "Mr. Bad News." Finally, Ezekiel got fed up and said, "Yehovah, you have deceived me. Nothing you told me has come to pass. And now everyone's mocking me!"

"... (Israel is) saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what the word is that cometh forth from Yehovah. And they come unto you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth, they show much love, but their heart goes after covetousness ...they hear your words, but they do them not. And when this comes to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet has been among them" (Ezekiel 33:30-33).

Let me ask you: Have you come to the place where you have said in your heart, "I've already heard it all! I don't want to hear anymore!" If so, beware!

As It Was With All Past Societies and Church Bodies, The Churches Today are in No Mood to Receive Bad News!

The majority of churchgoers today soundly reject all prophetic warnings of a coming storm. Indeed, the American church today is the most blatant "feel-good" church in all of history. But, like Israel, we're only experiencing the calm before the storm!

While Moses spent forty days on the mountaintop, Israel indulged in a spirit of lawlessness. The people wanted to play and relax, so they abandoned all godliness. You remember the result: It ended in a drunken, naked orgy around a golden calf.

Likewise, today, Christians by the multiple thousands are casting off the yoke of the lord Messiah Jesus, tossing aside all limits and restrictions. This attitude is prevalent in many of the books and magazines you find in Christian bookstores. It's almost as if our leaders are saying, "Relax! God - Yehovah isn't hard. He's our Daddy, we're all his kids, and we're meant to have a good time. Don't let anyone disturb your fun!"

A few years ago, three pastors of large charismatic churches publicly stated they believed God - Yehovah would use rock-and-roll and rap music to bring in the next great revival. One of these ministers even declared that God - Yehovah used the Beatles to open people's hearts to the Holy Spirit. No - never! Those young men glorified sex and drugs. How could that ever be the work of the Holy Spirit?

One Christian magazine predicted that the next big movement in the church would be a "nightclub" approach - including services that feature dancing, "near-beer" alcohol, and comedians. One pastor told me this is already happening in churches throughout England and Europe. The churches can't hold the people's interest, so they turn their churches into nightclubs!

In addition, many "sinner-friendly" churches in America now serve coffee during their morning services. The people sit with their feet propped up on chairs, never standing up for worship. At one such church, a visiting gospel singer was advised not to sing anything that mentioned sin or the Messiah's blood, because it might offend the visitors. That church's leaders were trying to create a "comfort zone" for sinners!

You may find it hard to imagine the Israelites dancing naked around a golden calf. But don't for a second think the same thing could not happen in the churches today. Soon we're going to witness lewd, sensuous, blasphemous forms of religion, straight out of the pits of hell. Indeed, the Bible says a time is coming when God's people will no longer blush. And right now, the church's blush is gone because we've seen and heard so much already. yet this is just the beginning!

You may ask why are so many ministers and believers being deceived? Why is there so little discernment in God's – Yehovah’s house? Why do the most bizarre, worldly movements attract so many followers? I believe the answer lies in a prophecy from Amos:

"Behold, the days come, saith Yehovah Elohim - God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yehovah" (Amos 8:11).

Notice, this verse doesn't say there will be a famine of preaching. The fact is, God - Yehovah would never hold back his warnings from His church because only his truth can set us free. That's why he sends His prophets, teachers and evangelists to speak truth to us.

No, Amos' prophecy is not about all the shallow, light preaching we hear today; it isn't saying there will be a shortage of truth. Rather, what the church today is experiencing is a famine of hearing! There is an unwillingness to hear the true word of God - Yehovah. Instead, people are closing their eyes and ears, hardening their hearts, and saying, "I don't want to hear anymore!"

I Believe Right Now We Are Experiencing the Calm before The Greatest Storm America and the World Has Ever Suffered!

Now we see in 2024: "America is enjoying its greatest prosperity ever. Unemployment has fallen below 5 percent, and there is very little labor strife. Profits are at an all-time high, and people's purchasing power is moving up with higher wages. At the same time, interest rates are being lowered, and home sales are increasing."

It all sounds like good news, doesn't it? Yet the Bible says whenever people are crying, "Peace and prosperity!", sudden destruction is about to fall.

Over the years, I have received letters from people saying, "You've been prophesying for years about 'gathering storm clouds' and a 'coming crash.' Yet all you have done is scare a lot of Christians who trust your word. The truth is the opposite has happened. Instead of experiencing a storm, we've seen a boom, with record-breaking prosperity. There isn't one sign on the horizon to suggest a coming crisis."

The fact is, the apostle Peter warned that many believers would react this way: "...there shall come in the last day's scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:3). In other words: "People will say, 'Where's the so-called storm? Everything is continuing today as it always has!"

Beloved, God - Yehovah has judged every past society for lesser sins than America's. Consider:

• No other nation has killed more babies than the United States has through abortion. Our soil cries out with the blood of these children! We would rather save the life of a whale than one of our own babies.
• America has the world's highest rate of illegitimate pregnancies.
• Teenage crime in this country is the highest in the free world.
• Americans now spend more money on dog food than on foreign missions.
• We have begun to glorify homosexuality and lesbianism. Our media applauds the "bravery" of gays who declare their sexual orientation, but we ought to weep over it! TV's "Ellen" was hailed as a heroine when she came out of the closet on national television. Yet at one time, Christians across the country would have been on their faces crying out to God - Yehovah for mercy over such immorality.
• Network newscasts showed images of half-naked gay women in Florida celebrating "Lesbian Pride Week." An estimated 30,000 women gathered to indulge in drunken orgies all night long for a whole week. And local officials applauded it, saying, "It's wonderful that they're all together here." But it must have been breaking God's – Yehovah’s heart! Radical homosexuals cry out to society, "In your face!" Yet what they're really saying is, "In your face, God - Yehovah!"
• America has brazenly kicked God - Yehovah out of its schools and courts. Now there's even a movement to remove His name from the Pledge of Allegiance and from all U.S. coins. People no longer want to hear even the mention of His name!
• Fifty million Americans now smoke pot, and millions more are hooked on heroin, crack, and other hard drugs.
• Our schools have become bastions of blasphemy and agnosticism. Our children have been robbed of all moral standards, and denied all access to God - Yehovah and they're reacting by becoming more violent and rebellious.

Beloved, God - Yehovah destroyed Noah's generation, as well as Sodom, all for lesser sins than ours. What arrogance to think that while these societies were judged severely, we will be spared!

Very Soon, America Is Going To Wake Up to a Sudden News Report of Calamity and the Storm Will Be Upon Us Suddenly!

The psalmist describes how God's rod of judgment will fall overnight: "In the hand of Yehovah there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he pours out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them ..all the horns of the wicked also will I cut off..." (Psalm 75:8,10).

In Revelation, this cup is called " ...the cup of his indignation..." (Revelation 14:10). In other words, it's full of God's – Yehovah’s wrath. Simply put, America's cup of iniquity is overflowing, and all of our sins are going to come under His holy wrath suddenly!

You may be saying, "Why do you have to put such a scare into people? Why shouldn't we just enjoy this prosperity while it's here? You should be glad about all the good things that are happening, especially in New York City. Walt Disney has moved in and taken over the once seedy 42nd Street. Now all the smut and porn shops are gone, and everything in Times Square is family oriented. There won't be any riots here, as you predict, with over a thousand fires burning. Relax, pastor, and enjoy it!"

No, Mickey Mouse can't stop the coming storm! The fact is, Disney has become one of the world's most corrupt media systems. Its movies are rife with homosexuality, violence, and the occult. Indeed, such businesses are the very reason God will send the storm, and it will come quickly!

I remember as a young boy hearing a sudden news report that instantly changed America's peaceful slumber. Our family was riding along on a beautiful, peaceful Sunday afternoon to a country church where my father was going to preach. We had just stopped for ice cream when a sudden news flash came over the car radio: "We interrupt this program to bring you this news report: Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor!" I still remember the look on Dad's face; he was in utter disbelief.

That night at church, everyone was baffled. "What's happening?" they wondered aloud. "How could we suddenly be bombed? In the days that followed, we had "blackouts" in which we all had to cover the windows in our homes and schools. Everyone feared a sudden bomber attack!

And, beloved, so it will be suddenly when the storm hits. It will come like a thief in the night, bringing sudden panic and disbelief. Right now, you may be thinking, "Let it come! If calamity strikes, I will deal with it then. After all, I'm in God's – Yehovah’s hands. I'll be ready so I'm not going to worry about it. Jesus will see me through."

Yet, let me ask you: Why does God - Yehovah tell His prophets to shout their warnings from the housetops? He wants to warn His people, to stir us up to seek Him! He wants to convict us of all our attempts to cast off the yoke of the lord Messiah Jesus and cozy up to the world. He wants us to keep our eyes on the lord Messiah Jesus to seek heavenly things because those are the only things that will stand in the coming storm!

Now Let Me Give You the Only Hope in the Coming Storm!

Just before his death and resurrection, Jesus stared into the face of a horrible coming storm. He saw what was just ahead: Jerusalem would be surrounded by powerful armies, the temple would be destroyed, the city would be burned to the ground, and thousands of people would die on crosses erected by the invading enemy. Their entire society was about to collapse!

Now, Jesus was the very embodiment of God's – Yehovah’s love. And yet he warned, prophesied, and wept over his society because he saw what was coming in the end times: "Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved..." (Matthew 24:21-22).

If you think about it, Jesus' day was very similar to ours: Peace, calm, and prosperity ruled. Children played in the streets. There were no signs of judgment anywhere. Yet Jesus described the leaders of his society as a generation of vipers: priests who robbed widows, scoffers, blasphemers, adulterers, child offenders, a corrupt Temple full of moneychangers, a ministry filled with wolves in sheep's clothing, false accusers, liars, cheats, hypocrites, lovers of pleasure, fornicators, corrupt children. He warned, "You're about to be surrounded by enemy armies. Now, prepare your hearts because there's a storm coming!"

When I first prepared this message, I was overwhelmed by a spirit of foreboding. All I could think of was the terrible condition of the churches and how the devil was using subtle evils to deceive God's – Yehovah’s elect. Christians seemed focused mostly on their own needs — "my needs, my problems, my past, my future — how my parents hurt me, how the church has wounded me, how my friends have failed me..." God's – Yehovah’s people were no longer weeping over a dying world!

For a while, this truly overwhelmed me. Then God’s – Yehovah’s Spirit showed me how our lord reacted in the face of the coming storm. The apostle John writes, "...as he [Jesus] is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). The simple fact is, if we have to have the lord Messiah Jesus mindset in all things our hearts will not fail us! If we don’t have the mindset of the lord Messiah Jesus in us, failure will be the result.

The Bible gives no evidence of the lord Messiah Jesus being downcast, fearful, or hopeless. He didn't panic or despair. Despite all he saw coming, the lord Messiah Jesus knew the final outcome. He knew the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against God's – Yehovah’s people!

David gives us a clear picture of the lord Messiah Jesus' attitude in the face of the coming storm. He speaks prophetically of the Messiah, saying, "...I foresaw the lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved" (Acts 2:25). The literal meaning here is, "I was always in his presence, beholding his face." David quoted the lord Messiah Jesus as saying, "Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope" (verse 26). Here is the secret: the lord Messiah Jesus kept the Father - Yehovah always before his face!

The lord Messiah Jesus continually sought out secret places to be shut in with his Father. And it was only after being in God's – Yehovah’s presence that the Messiah Jesus came forth to minister, fully persuaded that his Father was always with him: "He's at my right hand - and nothing on this earth can move me!" The Greek word for "moved" here means "agitated or shaken, disturbed." The Messiah Jesus was saying, "None of these problems, evils or coming events can cast me down or shake my confidence. My Father - Yehovah is in complete control!"

Beloved, if we're going to face the coming storm, then we need to be prepared so nothing disturbs our spirit. And the only way to do that is to spend time in the Father's – Yehovah’s presence, before His throne. We have to be shut in with him - on our knees — until we are thoroughly persuaded, He is indwelling us by His Spirit!

God - Yehovah is clearly telling us, "Don't be moved or agitated by anything you see. Keep your eyes focused on me and you'll retain your joy!" And according to David, the Messiah Jesus testified, " ...you shall make me full of joy with your countenance" (Acts 2:28).

It's as if the Messiah Jesus is telling us, "I faced everything you're going to face in the closing days. I had the same foreboding feelings because I saw the coming storm. But I ran into the presence of my Father - Yehovah, and He lifted all my concerns! He showed me the outcome of it all. And in His presence, I found all the joy, hope, and rest I would ever need, to the very end. I have peace and joy because I've been with him!" "...my flesh shall rest in hope" (verse 26).

Written by David Wilkerson and edited and added on to by Bruce Lyon

Note: The true followers of the lord Messiah Jesus are those who enter into baptism having died to self and entered into the water and were completely immersed signifying their dying with the lord Messiah Jesus and rising up out of the water in newness of life as new creations [member of the New Humanity with Jesus as the federal head of that New Humanity] in the lord Messiah Jesus.

As new creations in the lord Messiah Jesus God – Yehovah has placed us as sons and daughters in His household. We are also slaves of the lord Messiah Jesus purchased by the blood he shed when he offered himself up to his God and Father Yehovah as a sin-offering sacrifice allowing God – Yehovah to reconcile humanity to Himself.

As Jesus was acting as an agent of his God and Father - Yehovah we are His slaves also. Now as a slave of God – Yehovah and His Son Jesus, we own nothing. Whatever we have has come from the hand of God – Yehovah and we are expected to exercise stewardship over all he has given to us.

A true follower of the lord Messiah Jesus will keep his creed found in Mark 12:28-32. They will love God – Yehovah with all their heart, mind, being, and strength and love their neighbors as themselves realizing that they cannot do this on their own but must have the enabling Spirit of God – Yehovah and the Spirit of the lord Messiah Jesus indwelling them to obey Jesus’ creed. It is only those who are totally committed to obeying the words God – Yehovah gave to the lord Messiah Jesus to give to us that will open the doors of the Kingdom – Kingship of God – Yehovah for us.

We have to hold fast to the revelation that our God and Father has given to us through His Son Jesus and his faithful disciples that will enable us to walk on the difficult narrow path that leads to entrance to the Kingdom of God – Yehovah. We know that our God and Father Yehovah will enable us by His Spirit to be totally committed to obeying His will. He never asks us to do anything that He is not willing to provide us with all the means to accomplish what he asks us to do!

Read Eric Chan’s book: Totally Committed – available through Amazon Books or Kindle Store.