The Kingdom of Darkness

Can you see it? The spiritual darkness in this world continues to increase. I wrote a post about this a few years back and added some thoughts to it:

I'm going to be very blunt. Should the era we live in concern us? YES.

The Holy Spirit is putting out a world wide "wake up" call and very few are heeding it. There really is no need to "discern the times". It is written, as clear as a bell, everywhere we look. One would have to be completely blind spiritually not to see the writing upon the wall at this point. Unfortunately, many of us ARE blinded. Sin blinds the mind, soul, and spirit of a person.

Despite the clarity of the picture around us, God, in his goodness, is going to allow this picture to become even clearer. The demarcation lines between good and evil will continue to grow greater and soon no one will be able to walk between these two lines but will choose one or the other. There will be no middle ground.

I have written about this numerous times and in no way has this sense of the "spiritual emergency" our world is facing lessened. If anything it has grown stronger.

We should pray daily to the Holy Spirit for the light of His truth to pierce the darkness of our times and for the grace to stand firm in our faith despite the obstacles around us. In this way we can become "little beacons of light" for others.

I reposted this because I cannot stress enough the importance of staying close to the Lord in the coming years. I will go so far as to say it is critical to do this. There can be no "fence straddling". And prayer is a must because it pierces the darkness. Carry your spiritually crippled brothers and sisters. Lay the wounded in the arms of the Lord.

Why is it of such importance that we do this?

Let me explain. God's kingdom is a kingdom of truth. We may think we know truth but it takes a very pure soul to see the reality of God's kingdom instead of our own kingdoms.  We form these  "personal kingdoms" of our own because of sin, both original and personal. Each person tends to think that these little kingdoms they make are "real"...but they are not. We all do this to some degree. In other words...we crown ourselves and seat ourselves on the throne of our personal kingdoms.  In His kindness, God knocks us off these thrones on a regular basis because pride is the worst sin of all. I've been knocked off my "throne" so many times that I've lost count. God purges us if we allow Him to.

What happens if people do not allow this dethroning of the god of self to take place?

Hell happens.

Seriously. God is very merciful but doesn't force people to accept Him.

Hell is not only a place, it's a state of being, and those who do go to hell start their hell on earth. Just as heaven is a state of being as well as a place...so it is with hell. When a person enters hell they have already been living in that state spiritually. There are numerous signs but because of pride many refuse to see it.

Now to the point I'm trying to make:
What happens when millions or even billions of people refuse God's grace time and time again?

Hell on earth, my friends. Hell on earth and an immense amount of suffering as we are forced against our will to live in each other's hells. Think of the number of people who were forced to live in Hitler's hell.

And we said we'd never forget.

"And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God."   John 3:19-21



Next post - The Kingdom of Light