The Lion is Ready

I Cor.14:8 - For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for battle?
Have you ever watched a documentary on the animal channel about lions? I found it interesting and shocking when the camera followed a particular pride of lions for one year. During that year the pride male along with the females will chase younger males out of the pride as they reach a certain age because the pride male will not share his pride with anyone. One day a younger and stronger male came and defeated the pride male and he left in defeat. Now the new pride male goes throughout the pride and kills all the male lions whether they are adolescents or tiny cubs. He now is king and he will only tolerate cubs that he himself sired.
There is coming a day when the Lion of Judah will search all of history for any person not born of Him and send them to eternal destruction. It was difficult to watch a lion destroy cubs on television and it is extremely difficult to imagine people suffering and being tortured - forever. I mean many people would love to see Bin Laden captured and the tortured for his crimes. But if we were forced to watch him being systematically and severely tortured to where he screamed and cried like a little baby there would come a point where we turn our heads and say "Enough, just kill him". So it is hard to imagine people being systematically and severely tortured forever. Think about it, right at this moment there are people that you and I knew in excruciating and horrible pain - right now. Now even though we know it is true, the reason we find it hard to comprehend is because we cannot understand God's justice emanating from His holiness. And this punishment comes not only from the Father, it comes also from Jesus Himself.
Oh yes, the Jesus that we have portrayed as only gentle and meek, unassuming and eager to beckon to our every whim is one day going to judge all humanity and cast all those who He hasn't sired into eternal punishment. Wow. I am right now almost overwhelmed by the grace I have received when I think that I will be a blood bought spectator at that awful event and I feel frightened just imagining it. The Scripture declares "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". That doesn't teach that salvation is by works, oh no, but it does declare that even though we are under the blood and free from the wrath of Almighty God we still should stand in the fear of God when we meditate on who He is and what could have been in our future had Jesus not found us. I was walking oblivious to the wrath that was coming and by God's grace I was plucked from the fire!
Now think about what passes today for Bible preaching. Have you ever wondered why the message series that was preached at your church seems to pop up on message boards on the front of other churches as you drive by? It's because thousands of "God's messengers" purchase their sermons from the internet from other ministries complete with illustrations and accompanying screen presentation. I thought they were paid to pray and seek God's Word and deliver God's message fresh from heaven and burning in their bones! I guess that is old thinking but that is surely why no one feels any fear and trembling about God Almighty and the coming judgment. Here we are on the verge of seeing the culmination of the prophetic calendar and there is so little powerful and broken warning to everyone that people don't believe it. Come on, be honest, if the church really, and I mean really, believed that we were only a few years from seeing Jesus coming from heaven with His mighty angels to wreak divine wrath and destruction on this very world wouldn't we act different? If the astronomers told the world that an asteroid was going to destroy the earth in three years the whole world would panic even though they themselves had not seen the asteroid. They would take the astronomer's word for it. Why? Because they would be holding press conferences, going on ever talk show, appearances on ever news program, and urgently telling people about the coming destruction. So why is there no one panicking about the coming destruction that actually IS coming to this earth at the hand of God? Because the ones who say they believe it aren't panicked and concerned about it, so why should the world be? Through Jesus' ministry He warned us to "Watch and pray" because His judgment is coming.

Before I was saved I had never entered an evangelical church. Come with me now as I imagine what it would have been like today if I had:

As I enter the worship center it is different to me. I am used to people coming in and being very quiet supposedly to show reverence to the presence of God and also to prepare their hearts(supposedly). I sit down and I hear people discussing work, their health, football, and all sorts of things that have nothing to do with God. I am confused because I thought they were here to worship God but the atmosphere seems like that which I've experienced as we waited for a rock concert to start. The music guy asks us to stand and we begin singing. The music was pretty good and it made me feel uplifted. We sit down and a man comes and welcomes everyone including visitors, and he proceeds to give about ten minutes of announcements which I can't really follow. We sing a little more and then the pastor gets up and my ears perk up. Maybe now I'll hear a little bit about God. I sure am searching.
Now the pastor tells everyone to prepare for the offering and he talks for a while about something called the "tithe" and he says that if you give it God will give you more money - guaranteed! I feel a little disconcerted because I've never heard that before, and my expectations drop. Maybe I'm in the wrong place but I'll have to endure it until the end. As they pass the plates I'm embarrassed because I have nothing to put into the plate and I feel like everyone is watching.
Now the pastor gets up to give a message titled "You will live forever". He says that all of us will live forever in heaven or hell. I've heard of hell and if it really exists I don't want to go there! It is an enlightening sermon and by the end I am uncomfortable with my present Spiritual condition and I think hell might be real. I do not have enough courage to go forward during the music but after the service I timidly walk forward to ask the preacher a couple of questions. As I stand to the side I listen as he speaks with several people about a few different things. They banter back and forth about scheduling things for the week and other things and his secretary confirms a number of things that are to be taken care of, and as one of his friends leaves he excitedly calls out to the preacher about the afternoon playoff football game involving the local team. The preacher smiles and gives the "thumbs up" and he is cheery and light, and as I stand there I get the impression that the sermon was a performance that is now over. Like a theatre production that ends and the players, still with their makeup on, are mingling and greeting people in the audience. I suddenly come to the conclusion that it's not real at all. I mean who could tell people about this place of eternal suffering, expounding on the people that are there now screaming, and within minutes you are laughing and joking? Wow.
I walk out of the church and I notice nobody is moved emotionally and no one is even talking about God much less praying. This has been a waste of time.
Now fast forward to the Great White Throne judgment. I now know I am lost and I am about to be cast into the place I heard about. I look in the surrounding throng and I see that preacher. I scream out to him, "You knew this place was real and you could laugh as you were telling about it? You knew this lake of fire was real and you were so emotionless? You taught about this place like you were teaching a history lesson and I didn't believe you and now I'm condemned forever. Why didn't you show some urgency? Why didn't you beg and plead from the pulpit, perhaps many would have given your words more weight?"

You know what? When I said the message was on "You will live forever" I used a little historical reference because most people today would never hear a message on that. Here's some titles that have been discarded, "You Must be Born Again", "Heaven or Hell", "The Coming Judgment", "The Lion of Judah", and many others that the old time prophets of God preached. They were so outdated. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Jesus is airy and light, maybe He wants us to downplay the negative and frightening aspects of His Word. Maybe He agrees with our happy messages and dry pillows. Or maybe the Awesome Lion of the Tribe of Judah is ready to destroy all who He did not father. Well, go ahead all you happy, seeker sensitive, purpose driven, health and wealth preachers, go ahead and keep tickling the ears and making people feel better about themselves. Go ahead and tell them about how God wants to financially bless them for their own consumption; go ahead and tell them about enhancing their sex lives; go ahead and tell them that God is a good God and is never angry; go ahead and spend millions on buildings while millions don't even have food including brothers and sisters in Christ; go ahead and spend tens of thousands on "Christian" cruises and by the time you return hundreds of thousands have perished; go ahead and put the hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars you make from your salaries, books, tapes, and your guest appearances in other churches in your own bank account. Go ahead. You will answer soon...