"The Coming Wrath" (A Sermon)

My aunt was going through some of my grandmother's writings and research she has and she made copies of some of the things she found, and this sermon from 3/18/1973 from a Rev. Roy L. King was one of them. I have been feeling the urge to put it in this blog. Time is getting short; this sermon was preached 40--nearly 41 years ago. I searched to try to find this somewhere online, but I couldn't find it or any info on this Reverend. Scripture: Mark 13:1-37 "And what I say to you I say to all: Watch." We have a mistaken feeling of security just as those who lived in Jesus' day had a mistaken sense of security. Less than forty years after Jesus spoke those words the Roman soldiers laid seige to the city of Jerusalem. And as he said, "Not one stone was left upon another." And the chroniclers of the event stated that blood ran knee-deep in the city. And some of those who heard Jesus' words that day remembered what he said: "This generation will not pass away before these things come true." What I have to say today is not easy for me to talk about. It is more my style to talk about love, forgiveness, acceptance, kindness, generosity, and other things like that. I have to confess to you that I am a little frightened to preach to you what I have to say today. First of all, for fear of rejection on your part, and secondly, what I say to you may not be the truth. Nearly three weeks ago, just before dawn, I was awakened out of a sound sleep by a vision of something that I had never seen before. Now I'm not given to visions--they don't occur to me every week. I don't consider myself a prophet; I look upon myself as a pastor. And so the experience was a shaking one, and I felt compelled to preach on it that Sunday. But when the time came to preach the sermon, I was afraid, so I backed away from it and gave it some time to rest. Yet, I'm afraid not to preach it. Have you ever been caught in a situation like that, where you're afraid to do it and afraid not to? I'm going to ask you to pray for me and with me for a few minutes before we begin. Let's pray: Lord, if this is your Spirit speaking, then cause it to multiply and spread for it's a warning to your people. But if it is lies of Satan, cause it to not bear any fruit, and to disappear. Amen. Every one of us always stands at the very brink of disaster in our lives. We're always in death even while we are in life, just one step or one breath away from it. The vision I saw a few weeks ago was a vision about a coming event, the coming wrath of God. You see, our universe is spiritual in nature. We look at it as being material, but in reality it isn't at all that; I realize that now, that God is a Spirit and that His creations are of a spiritual nature, and that the universe which He has created is spiritual in nature too, just as we are. Evil, wickedness, and unrighteous acts do violence not only to the individual in his personality, his spirit, his soul; but evil acts do violence to nature, to God's creation. Like it or not, and we certainly don't like it, we live in one of the most wicked and evil times. There is no justice in the land. For the most part, our judges and our attorneys are more concerned about the law than about justice. And the fault is a spiritual fault. For the most part, even those who call upon the name of God are a mixture of right and wrong, of good and evil. And even those who love Him do violence to the nature He created, both within themselves and without. So what is coming, the coming wrath of God, is the result of this spiritual wickedness upon a spiritual nature, not only upon the nature of man, but upon the nature of His creation. I wish there was some way I could tell you that we could forestall it by prayer, by meditation, or by repentance, but it was shown to me in the vision that there are so few who really call upon the name of God and worship Him, that were their voices combined all together, it would not make enough difference to forestall what is to come. So I say to you as I would say to anyone, "Watch and be prepared for what is to come." I'm not saying this to frighten you or to threaten you into doing something or to coerce you into some course of action. I'm not sure that would do any good. I'm saying it merely to prepare you for that which is to come, because most of those who sit here today and hear this will experience it, and if you know that it is going to happen and that it will turn out all right in the end it may help you. To go through an event of chaos not knowing the outcome for yourself and those you love is a most frightening and spiritually deadening experience. What lies ahead of us will not be easy to endure. Its advent will be marked by earthquakes, by fires, by a rupturing of the earth as we have never experienced before, because it's never occurred in the way it will occur. Our own nation will be split in the middle by this cleavage. Many will drown, many will die. You see why I didn't want to say it, and why I don't want to preach this? But it will come and it will probably come within your lifetime, and all I can say to you is watch out, be prepared for it, because it's coming. You will be in great danger personally if you continue to worship God, because reason will be forgotten and insanity will rule the land. Justice will become a forgotten practice and truth a forgotten word, and wickedness will become fashionable along with immorality. You must beware because many who have in easy times called upon God's name will turn away from Him, but those who persist in righteousness will suffer many things because of what they believe. Trumped-up charges will be brought against you because you're His children. Look upon this time as a time to witness. Don't let fear find a home in your hearts. Keep Faith there. Don't be afraid of those who threaten your bodies but cannot touch your souls, but continue to be afraid of him who can destroy both your body and your soul. When you're brought before courts, as you most certainly will be if you persist in your faith, do not begin to make arguments of justification for yourself. Remember you will be living in a time of injustice and insanity. Speak what the Lord through His Spirit will show you. Make a witness to your faith and not a defense, because in those days many will attempt to save themselves by accusing others who are innocent. Even parents will turn against their own children and children against their own parents to destroy them. And those who persevere without giving in to the wickedness will be saved, not from bodily harm or death but from spiritual death. You will not be physically protected; that's why you must be warned. Now listen to this, because it will be a sign for you. You will know the time is near at hand when all the wickedness will break loose upon your land and the symbol of the phallus is made a symbol of worship. Be on the lookout for it, and when you see it, flee to the countryside, to desert areas. Get away from the populace of the cities, for there is where the insanity will be at its worst and that's where persecution will begin. If you can find an isolated place to hide, do so, but whatever you do don't go back to your homes because it will be too late. Begin now to make your spiritual and physical preparations for the time. That's the point of the sermon. Do not wait until the time arrives, for then it will be too late. When you see that awful sign do not seek to collect your goods, but flee as a rabbit flees a wolf. Pray that the calamity will not come in winter, for if it does suffering will be 1000-fold. Never since the beginning of God's creation has there been such a calamity as this one will be. The horror of it will boggle your mind. Only God's intervention will keep it from destroying His creation. Remember this: It's for your own sakes, for the sake of His children, that the time will be shortened. In the aftermath of this age of insanity many false saviours will appear. Many of God's children who have withstood the calamities of the insane age will fall prey to the false messiahs. They will be easy to follow and difficult to ignore, for they will do tremendous miracles. Some of them will even appear to raise the dead, but you must beware because the power of God does not lie only in miraculous deeds. Wait and don't follow these men. Wait for the arrival of Christ, for He is your only Saviour and Messiah, and His coming will be heralded by a darkening of the sun and disappearance of the moon. Then you will know the end of the Age has come. But first will come and age of insanity. When Christ comes, all of creation will be involved in a convulsive seizure. Then out of the chaos and darkness, a light such as you have never seen will appear. It will light up the entire creation of God and fill it with a majesty and music of the angels, and Christ will appear surrounded by God's creatures. His angels will separate themselves from His glory and each one will go to claim those who have been given their charge since the beginning of God's creation. They will gather together the ones God has chosen from the earth and from the farthest bounds of His creation. Only God knows when these things will occur, but the events I have spoken about will signal the beginning of the end. You will ask, "Why is it happening?" or, "When will it come?" These things are not important for you to know. You need only know to be ready. Let us pray: Lord, this was the hardest, most difficult sermon I've ever preached, to people I love and for whom I care more than I care for my own life. If it is a message they need, then keep it on their minds and hearts. If it is not your words, cause it to disappear. Amen.