CHAPTER 1
The Last Great Day
"HELLO, HELLO, IS ANYBODY home? Hello."
"Yes, I'm here."
"Why don't you come over today so that wecan enjoy the day together."
"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
"Hi and welcome to you."
Everything seems normal. The sun comes up. Birds sing. Thesky is partly cloudy. The season is fall. A crispness is in the air. Ilook over to you and say, "What a great day to be alive. Let's dosomething special today."
And then it happens—a very loud noise, so loud we have neverheard a noise like this before. It seems like many thunderclapsbooming. We run to the window to see what is happening. Scared,uneasy, and beside myself, I view the sky rolling back like a scroll.At this moment, I know instantly what is happening. As all thepast teachings cross my mind, it becomes very clear. The end hascome!
A feeling of doom starts to come over me! My mind startsto race oh-so-fast. Am I ready for this day? I ask myself. I neverintended to be lost. Maybe God would be merciful, even thoughI did things as I wanted to. I glance over at you, and you lookterrified. I must ask, "What's wrong?" You are speechless, andas words refuse to come out, I glance toward the window again.Celestial beings are coming out of the sky. I think I have just seenJesus. Is that God Himself way in the distance? The face of Jesuslooks very angry. Now I remember from my teachings how Jesuswould come back to judge the earth. All the love and kindness,gentleness, and forbearance would cease. Judgment would be realand forever. Only those who repented of their sins and acceptedHis atonement and followed in obedience would be saved!
A supernatural power begins to move us outside. There seemsno way to resist. Though I want to stay in, I can't. I begin to realizethat I am losing control and that we don't have the power to makeour own choices anymore! Finding ourselves out on the grass,looking up and around, we come to know many of the things theBible said would happen.
Down the road at the cemetery, graves open up. People emerge,some shouting, many asking for rocks and mountains to fall onthem, wanting to be covered back up instead of facing Jesus thejudge. This is so surreal. How can this be? I think. All at once, Ihear your voice. "Where are the sirens? Where are the police? Isn'tanyone going to do something?"
I look up again, and for the first time, I notice that the sun hasbecome dark and the moon is the color of blood—as the Bible saidthey would turn. Every once in a while, there seems to be a flash ofbright light as someone ascends upward toward ... where? Heaven?Somehow, a multitude of people gathers together, multitudes andmultitudes coming together for what? Their judgment? And thenI see her, your mother! She goes past us. She's ascending upward!Do you see how her face shines? Look how bright she is! Then witha terrible cry, I hear you say, "Mom, wait for me! Mom, please waitfor me! I want to go with you! I can't stay here!"
Tears run like a fountain. Joy seems like it happened yearsin the past. All the while, your mother keeps ascending, and youcome to realize that she is not coming back.
Heartache, crying, pain, and misery are all around, and yeta quiet, subdued seriousness has everyone spellbound, wonderingwhat will come next. The realization that our bodies have changedhas just became apparent. You remember the Bible said that inthe twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet would sound(remember that terrible thunder's blast?), we would be changedfrom corruptible to incorruptible and from mortal to immortal.
A young man appears. He is completely beside himself. Hesays that he and his brother had been sleeping in their beds whenall at once, his brother was taken. An extreme force moved thebrother through the house and out of the door, he says. As he ranto see what was happening, he caught a glimpse of his brothersteadily advancing upward. He watched until he could see thebrother no more. It was a very troubling experience for him.
Another woman approaches us. She and her friend had beengrinding flour at the mill. As the great noise subsided, her friendalso began rising! She tells us her friend was saying somethingabout going to be with Jesus. She says a very happy look ofrejoicing appeared across her friend's face. She's so upset that itseems nothing can comfort her.
As if these two experiences aren't enough, we behold withour own eyes two men working in a field nearby. One of themis making a terrible commotion. We look just in time to see theother man rising into the sky to be with Jesus in heaven. His bodyand face shine brightly like the sun. I can't help wondering why Iam not rising up and what this means for me.
Jesus is arranging many books. The books contain all thedeeds of the unforgiven—those who never repented of their sins.As the Great White Throne appears, the judge of all the earthprepares to sit upon His throne. A separation is underway andwill continue as the Good Shepherd divides His sheep from Hisgoats, with the saved (sheep) going to heaven and the lost (goats)going to hell.
As far as we can see, people are still gathering. They comefrom every tribe and nation. Those who ascend from the earthseem to be fewer and fewer. Way over yonder, a line is forming,and it looks like we'll have to take our turn meeting the judge.With a slim hope, there's a way out. Maybe God will grant me aplace on the right-hand side. I encourage you to hold up and hopethat somehow we'll make it through.
We wait for a long time; although, as you say," we don't knowhow long". The clocks have quit working. No one knows the time.It seems like days have come and gone, though darkness hasn'tovertaken us yet. Our neighbor is trying to start his car, but tono avail. Some are trying to go back into their houses. However,their bodies won't let them. Though their minds scream to runand hide, their limbs simply can't move very much. Many areattempting to escape to somewhere. They find that nothing works.The Bible told us time would be no more. We just never fathomedwhat the end of time would really be like.
Listen! Can you hear what's being spoken? Did those peopletell Jesus about all the good works they did? Are they trying tochange His mind? It appears as if they believe they should besaved. If I hear right, Jesus is saying, "Depart from me. I neverknew you."
Oh, what disappointment—going to the left-hand side andbeing forsaken forever to have no hope throughout eternity." Willyou look at that crowd of people at the left side of Jesus?" So manyare missing out on heaven. You remember the Bible said manywould follow the broad road that leads to destruction. I have asinking feeling about us. When will we take our turn? Isn't therea way out of this terrible day? Is the opportunity to be saved reallypast? How will we bear this terrible burden?
The earth seems to be heating up under my feet, and thatbrings back to mind the fact that the Bible said the earth will meltwith fervent heat. I wonder if the process has already started fromdeep within the earth, and if so, what are we going to do?" Whatcan we do?" It's almost our turn to face Him. The line seems to begoing faster and faster. No one will be left out. The Bible revealsthat everyone who ever lived would face judgment. The Bible alsotold us that everyone chooses when they will serve, and by thechoices they made, they chose their destiny—that has me scaredto face Him. I need another chance, but it's too late!
Some noises attract our attention over yonder by the horizon(straight away from Jesus), where a multitude of ugly beings weepand moan. They look very scared. They wring their hands, and itlooks as if they are trying to protect the leader of their group. Aswe slowly catch on to who these beings are, hatred overcomes us.We see them as the foes of our souls, and we want to blame thedevil for our presence down here. I say to you, "Let's do somethingabout this." Bad feelings only make things worse as we realizewe aren't going anywhere except where the great power of Godis bringing us!
The devil and his angels are not in line to be judged. Theirdoom is already sealed. God pronounced judgment on them manyyears before. They have known how their end will be, and the onlypleasure for them has been to take as many people away from Godas they could. Oh, the temptations they troubled us with. Oh, theheartaches they caused. Oh, the wrong choices they helped us tomake, though we knew better. Oh, the times we followed ourfleshly desires as they tempted us with the easier road to take.
Now I say to you, "Here we are. It is almost our turn." Earthlylife is over, and truly, it was like a vapor—very short indeed!
As the judging voice of Jesus calls my name, a dart shootsthrough me! A penetrating and piercing look by Him revealsmy life! As my record is read, I begin to feel that there must bea terrible misunderstanding. My intentions were good. I wantedto be saved. I helped others when I could. I went to church mostof the time. I was a good citizen. My neighbors thought well ofme. I gave time and money to help others. I try to tell Jesus allthese good things I did, but He looks at me and says, "I neverknew you. You are not my child! I shed my blood for you, andyou rejected me. You wasted my blood that could cover your sins.You are cursed. To the left-hand side you must go. You are cursedinto the everlasting judgment of hellfire!"
Terror grips my heart! Mercy is no more! The love of Jesus,which flowed so freely, is over for those on the left-hand side. As Iturn to the left, because there is no other way, I hear Jesus call yourname! With a sense of hopelessness, helplessness, and numbness, Ibelieve your trial will turn out much like mine. I truly feel sorryfor you! The thought that we really had a chance to be saved andgo to heaven and we forsook that chance is overwhelming me. Iam beside myself. While I am feeling sorry for myself, I hear thewords ring out to you: "I don't know you. You are not my child.You spurned my call. You rejected my invitation. Depart from me.You are cursed into everlasting punishment forever!"
Because of the finality of Jesus's words and because you knowthere is no other way, you walk over to me. At that instant, anuncontrollable crying overtakes both of us. People are cryingand moaning everywhere. Men are still calling for the rocks andmountains to fall on them. The earth seems to be getting hotterunder our feet. Peace and joy are forgotten. The most terrible partof this terrible experience is that we had a chance to be saved. Thecall had come. Jesus had invited us to be His children. He hadmade the way for whosoever would come to salvation. The blamefor where we are rests solely on us!
It seems people have lost their direction. No one knows whatto do next. Confusion is everywhere. All the while, the multitudesof people become larger and larger. Our friendship cools as werealize there is nothing we can offer each other. There seems to beno comfort for each other. We are more alone than ever before. Isthere anything that could lift our spirits?
The answer to this question is no! As we glance over to thedevil and his angels, we see they are suffering tremendously. A firehas broken out, and they are in it, tossing and turning, wailingand gnashing, moaning and groaning. The Bible said hell wascreated for the devil and his angels. It seems that reality bearsthis out—they will be the first partakers. It seems there would besome comfort to see the devils receive their just due. It is amazingthat even though they led us astray, no comfort is felt. There isn'tany comfort in realizing that all who are left behind are doomed,that their lot is the same as our lot, except for degrees of suffering.Hope is ended forever!
Though we didn't notice before, another scene comes intoview. An angel with one foot on land and one foot on the seadeclares that time would be no more. He stands there along withother angels; they seem to be keeping order by their presenceand spirit, and it becomes clear that nothing will get by them.The all-seeing eyes of God will reveal everything. The Bible saidevery eye would see Him and no unrepentant, sinners would enterheaven. Some men are still calling for rocks and mountains to fallon them. It feels like all from the left-hand side are experiencinghopelessness and doom. We come to realize it's only a matter ofmoments before hell will swallow us up and punishment will beeverlasting.
The judgment continues, although the line of people seemsto be getting shorter. And then I say to you, "Do you hear thatbeautiful music? Look up." The angels and the saved ones aresinging. It sounds so beautiful we almost forget our situation fora moment. We see Moses, Abraham, David, Daniel, and all theprophets of the Old Testament. Peter, James, John, Matthew,Mark, and Luke, the apostle Paul, and many of his fellow laborersare singing the song of the redeemed. Christians of all ages arepraising God and waiting for Jesus to return to heaven after thejudging of the earth is over. The martyrs who died for their faithare glowing even more than the other faithful ones. Then we seeyour mother and many others whom we know—family and friendswho made the sacrifice to be true Christians. They are singing andpraising God. They have a look of inexpressible joy on their faces!No one up there seems to be troubled about anything. Then youask, "Can anyone imagine a life with no trouble, no heartache, nopain? It sure looks like they have attained indescribable blessednessin a blissful realm far beyond what we ever thought!"
The singing continues drifting down from above. Fearfulvoices bring us back to our surroundings, and we cannot becomforted. The singing, the glory, and the pureness of the savedonly makes us more uncomfortable. The realization that we alsohad the chance to be in heaven and that we didn't take life veryseriously is torment to our souls. Now it is easy to see what weshould have done. Why, oh, why, couldn't we see before?
A group of people moves toward us. Their voices are hushed.If I hear correctly, it seems they think they have fooled God! Itbecomes apparent that they are the cremated ones. By havingthemselves burnt to ashes and scattered over land or sea, theybelieved God would never find them. How little they know ofGod's greatness and how in the resurrection we would all comeforth to an immortal life and our souls would live on throughouteternity. Not even one soul who ever lived escapes the judgmentof God. From the land or sea, from being eaten by beasts, orbeing encased in cement, or any other accident or disaster—allcome forth to be judged and rewarded by their faithfulness orunfaithfulness.
Then it dawns on us. There aren't any children left behind.Each of them, every last one, has gone to heaven. They stand onthe golden shore, saved—God hadn't called them. They are notaccountable for their sins. The fairness of God wouldn't makethem responsible until their understanding could comprehendthe plan of Jesus and His salvation. Millions and millions ofchildren are rejoicing up there. Jesus loved little children andsaid that unless we become like them, we would in no way enterthe kingdom of heaven. Maybe that is where we went wrong.Instead of being humble, we were overtaken by pride and high-mindedness,thinking we knew everything and had figured theworld all out. Here we are ... lost, lost forever.
The judgment is almost over; the line of people is almostdepleted. The earth is getting hotter. Great drops of sweat runover our bodies. The mood of the people deteriorates with everymoment. We decide to check on the devil and his angels one moretime. The sight is terrible. In the flames of torment, rolling andtossing, up and down, over and over, without mercy, without love,without any ray of hope, without any chance of improvement,they are suffering beyond imagination. There is no one to care,no one to help, no one to understand. If the devil could redo hisbig mistake, he surely would not have challenged God in heaven.By doing so, there was war in heaven, and the devil and his angelswere cast out. His end was sealed. He never had another chance,and that is where we made such a big mistake, because we didhave another chance. Though sin passed onto us, Jesus made away. He gave us another chance, and we squandered that chance!How foolish!
(Continues...)
