Sound the Alarm

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
Sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
For the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—

But surely things go on as they always have;
See here, we eat, we drink,
We marry, we give in marriage.
Why, don’t you know that “peace and safety”
Are the promises of the day?

You say “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,”
Or “Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.”
You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky,
But you cannot interpret the signs of the times?

See, darkness covers the earth
And thick darkness is over the peoples.
Indeed the people have become lovers of themselves,
Lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive,
Disobedient toward parents, ungrateful, unholy,
Without love, unforgiving, slanderous,
Without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good,
Treacherous, rash, conceited,
Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

Do you not recognize the escalation in wars,
The many rumors of wars, the earthquakes,
And the terrible famines in various places?
You must see all of this as more than just coincidence?

And you cannot deny the fact that hatred toward you is on the rise,
That more and more of you are experiencing persecution.
Can you not see that the love of most is growing cold?
I warned you that there would be terrible times in the last days!

So if all this is true what kind of people ought you to be?
Should you not live holy and godly lives
As you look forward to the Day and speed its coming?
For did I not tell you that I will certainly establish a new heaven and earth,
The home of righteousness?

Therefore seek not to be removed from the coming trials.
I have told you that I will not come again until the rebellion occurs
And the man of lawlessness is revealed.
You yourselves will see him set himself up in my holy temple,
Proclaiming himself to be God.
So be strong and very courageous.
Rejoice that you participate in My sufferings
So that you may be overjoyed when My glory is revealed.

Behold, I come like a thief!
Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him
So that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.

Dr. Gary Parkhurst