----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net
Francis Harper Message for 1/18/2019
Dear Ones,
Some of you may have heard or read this testimony before but the message certainly bears repeating!
“I Am Coming Soon”
Testimony of Marty Vreden
For many years, Marty was a police officer in Harrisonburg, Virginia; Rockingham County, near West Virginia and the Appalachian Mountains. The stress of his occupation, added to his other health issues, culminated in an acute respiratory failure on July 17, 2015.
On that morning, his wife took him to the emergency room at the Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg. After a battery of tests in the ER, he was transferred to the critical care unit. While enroute to the CCU, he stopped breathing and went into code blue. This was fully documented by the medical personnel involved.
The first encounter with the Lord – July 17, 2015
After going into code blue, Marty experienced the sensation of moving very rapidly through a tunnel. When he emerged from the tunnel, he immediately heard the voice of the Lord. The voice was undeniable and unmistakable. It was the voice of the Lord. He said, “My church does not really believe that I am coming back soon.” He repeated those same words a second time, and a third time. He said, “My church does not really believe that I am coming back soon.” The third time the words were spoken with more volume and more passion than before: “MY CHURCH DOES NOT REALLY BELIEVE I AM COMING BACK SOON!”
At this point Marty said, “Lord, Lord, we do believe you are coming back soon. We sing about it, preach about it, teach about it . . . .” But the Lord replied, “MY CHURCH DOES NOT BELIEVE I AM COMING BACK SOON, FOR IF THEY DID, THEY WOULD NOT BE LIVING LIKE THEY ARE!”
Then he said, very lovingly, “I AM COMING BACK SOON AND MY CHURCH IS NOT READY.” He continued, “Now you go back and tell the things you have heard, and know that your message will not be received.”
The first year Marty did not go public with the news of his experience. He felt he should go to the pastors first. He shared with about 50 pastors privately. Just as the Lord had said, the message was not received by the pastors, but there was one disabled pastor of a backwoods church who invited him to come preach. He preached to about twelve people. The Lord moved powerfully and touched the hearts and lives of the people who heard his message that morning.
The second encounter with the Lord – August 14, 2015
On August 14, 2015 Marty was transferred from Rockingham Memorial Hospital to the University of Virginia Transitional Care Facility. During his first night there he had his second encounter with the Lord. He, like the Apostle Paul, could say, “Whether in the body or out of the body,” he could not say.
After falling asleep, he saw an oval shaft of light that grew in size and intensity. Suddenly Marty realized he was standing in a huge football stadium, but he was the only person there. He saw a football sitting on the two-yard line. When he looked at the scoreboard, he saw the numbers 2:13. Then he heard the same voice he had heard before, saying, “My church should be living as though this is a two-minute warning.”
The Lord knew Marty would understand the significance of a two-minute warning in an NFL (National Football League) game. He knew Marty was a huge football fan. Marty realized that in that last 120 seconds, with the ball on the two-yard line, victory or defeat would be determined. The referee was about to blow the whistle.
The next morning, Marty was back in his wheelchair again. He was thinking of his vision, and the two-minute warning, when he heard a knock on the door of his room. He responded, “Come in,” and two ladies entered. One was a physical therapist and the other an occupational therapist. After some discussion, related to their specialties, the physical therapist asked Marty, “Do you consider yourself a man of faith?” His response was, “I certainly have not lived it; I have made a lot of mistakes. I have had a lot of failures, but I am a follower of Jesus.”
The women smiled at each other, and one said, “We had no intention of coming to see you this morning. As we were on our way to see other patients and we came by your room, we saw super-imposed upon your door the number two. We wondered about the meaning of this strange thing. We were prompted by the Spirit to come in and ask you.” Marty responded with, “The Lord is coming soon. The two-minute warning has sounded.” It had sounded only hours before.
After the first year, doors have started to open, giving Marty more opportunities to share his testimony. Later, while praying in his living room one day, he asked the Lord, “Why did I see 2:13 instead of just the number 2?” The Lord told him to turn to Titus 2:13: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
My Love to All,
Francis Harper
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“Be Ye Also Ready”
“. . . be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh” (Matthew 24:51 IV; 24: 44 KJV).
If Jesus came today would we be ready? If the Lord himself would descend from heaven with a shout today, would we be among those who would be caught up to meet him in the clouds? See 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. See also Jude 1:14 and Revelation 1:7.
Those of us who are not yet prepared for his coming need to consider how devastating it would be to discover we had not been gathered with some of our loved ones to meet the Lord and the ten thousands of saints he will bring with him!
Do we understand the critical importance of our readiness at the time of the Lord’s coming? Paul seemed to understand. His words may help us; “. . . I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him [And he in me] . . . that I may know him . . . and the fellowship of his sufferings . . . If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the just. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after . . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8-14).
In response to the question, “What is the sign of thy coming?” Jesus gave many signs that are recorded in Matthew 24 and also in Luke, chapters 17 and 21. Then in Matthew 25 he shares with his disciples the parable of the ten virgins. The virgins quite likely represent the baptized members of the church. The sudden appearance of the Bridegroom will be a complete surprise to many members of the church. The wise will be prepared. The foolish will not be ready! The foolish will say, “My Lord delayeth his coming” or ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” Some will procrastinate “until it is everlastingly too late” (Helaman 5:51). The Bridegroom will say to them “ye know me not” (Matthew 25:11 IV; 4:1 KJV). The wise virgins will know Jesus. The foolish will only know about him!
Who then will be ready at the time of the Lord’s coming? The Apostle John sums up the recipe of our readiness in fewer words than Paul. He simply said: “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him . . . And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3). Before the Lord’s departure from the land Bountiful, he asked the people a rhetorical question: “Therefore, what manner of men had ye ought to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am . . .” (3 Nephi 13:5).
If you, or a person you know, has not been baptized this should not be delayed. Jesus said, “Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Until we are filled with the Holy Spirit we cannot achieve Christlikeness.
Charity is of utmost importance in those who will be ready to meet the Lord. “Charity is the pure love of Christ . . . and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with them (Moroni 7:52).
The Lord described the faithful and wise servant as the one who watcheth, to impart his portion of meat in due season. Blessed be that servant whom his Lord shall find, when he cometh, so doing” (Luke 12:50-52 IV; 12:42-43 KJV).
And remember, last of all: “Without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
“Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in no wise deny the power of God” (Moroni 10:29).
