By Philip Cottraux
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (Joel 2:28). The prophet Joel promised us that in the last days, we would see things we haven’t seen before. Visions will play an important part of this Holy Ghost outpouring as the Lord prepares to rapture His church away. They were crucial to the Early Church; without visions, Paul would never have had his life-changing encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and Peter never would have received the revelation from the Lord that the gospel must be preached to the Gentiles.
I have heard stories my entire life of people receiving visions from God. It has always thrilled me that God proves Himself by occasionally revealing things to people that they see with their own eyes. Some have visions of Christ Himself. Others see angels. Some see Heaven, or the glory and fire of God descending. And some have chilling revelations of the judgment that is soon to come. I never thought that God would choose me for such a phenomenon, and nothing has prepared me for what I experienced this week.
As I was trying to go to sleep Wednesday night, I closed my eyes and started to drift off, when suddenly I saw a disturbing image. It was a massive concrete block, and over its precipice was Hell. A man was lying on top of the block, holding onto a rope that was pulling him toward the edge. He was close to plummeting over into the fiery abyss, but he wouldn’t let go. Even at the last moment before plunging into Hell, he refused to release the very thing about to pull him in.
To see a vision so distinct for the first time was surreal but it only lasted for a brief moment, like a flash before my eyes that was there and then gone. The image was not photorealistic, but resembled a horrifying painting. It snapped me out of my near-sleeping state, and God immediately began to whisper the interpretation into my spirit. I haven’t been able to get this vision out of my mind all week, and even though I had a different blog topic in mind, felt compelled to write on this experience. He gave it to me for a reason; it is a message for every reader, whether saint, sinner, or backslider. Time is running out.
The concrete block is Christ, because He is our solid foundation. 1 Corinthians 3:11: For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. If our feet are truly planted on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will never fall. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner (Psalm 118:22). His people rejected Him, yet He became the foundation upon which the entire church, from then to today, is built.
But if that solid block was Jesus, Hell was all around it because every doctrine outside of Jesus Christ is from Hell, and will lead there. John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If we stand on the rock of Jesus Christ, we are safe, but nothing outside of Him can save us. This is why the church is in such danger as it waters down Jesus’ message or doubts the Word of God; we are chipping away at the only thing keeping us from falling. He is the Messiah who bled and died for us, and His blood is the only thing that can wash our sins away. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:11).
But the man was allowing the rope to pull him off the foundation, and was about to fall over the edge into Hell. The rope represents the sins that we are unwilling to let go, even to the very end. All of us struggle with a particular sin or addiction that is our weakness. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us (Hebrews 12:1). Many have let go of that sin that so easily besets them and are safe, but the Lord is giving this vision as a warning that too many are clinging to the rope that is about to pull them into Hell.
Isaiah 5:18: Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope. Woe unto those who cling to that rope! They think they have plenty of time. The precipice is right in front of them and they will soon fall over and the flames will engulf them for all eternity. But the enemy has blinded them to how close they are. The devil has made it look like they have a great distance left, and will have many more opportunities to let go. They will only find out how much danger they are in once they begin to fall, but it will be too late. They have traded their immortal souls. They have given eternity for a little pleasure here on Earth, but they will soon lift their eyes in Hell with nothing to show for it but the ashes of a burning rope in their hands.
But the flaming abyss isn’t just Hell. Many are clinging to sin even as the Lord could return any day now. The signs of the end times are all around us, but Christians are still playing around with sins that will cost them their one flight out. If the edge of the block is the Rapture, the flaming abyss is the Tribulation that will cover the planet once the Bride has been taken away. Sinners and even many Christians are holding onto ropes of nicotine, alcohol, drug addiction and lust that will cause them to be left behind. Jesus is only coming back for a church without spot, blemish, or any such thing. Ephesians 5:27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. And lukewarmth is just as terrible; God is giving lukewarm Christians the same warning He gave to the Laodicean church: because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth (Revelation 3:16). How terrible to be spewed out of the mouth of God into Great Tribulation!
God is trying to wake up the Christian church to the fact that we have clung to a rope of compromise. We are trying too hard to please the world and win their approval, and are forsaking Jesus in the process. Revelation 2:4: Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. The American church is teetering on the brink and is about to plunge over the edge, but is refusing to let go of the ropes. Trying to please the world will lead us on a path straight to Hell. Today is the day to heed this warning because tomorrow could be too late. Don’t allow those ropes to pull you away from Christ. We must separate from the world and all the sin it has to offer. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, (2 Corinthians 6:17).
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (Joel 2:28). The prophet Joel promised us that in the last days, we would see things we haven’t seen before. Visions will play an important part of this Holy Ghost outpouring as the Lord prepares to rapture His church away. They were crucial to the Early Church; without visions, Paul would never have had his life-changing encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and Peter never would have received the revelation from the Lord that the gospel must be preached to the Gentiles.
I have heard stories my entire life of people receiving visions from God. It has always thrilled me that God proves Himself by occasionally revealing things to people that they see with their own eyes. Some have visions of Christ Himself. Others see angels. Some see Heaven, or the glory and fire of God descending. And some have chilling revelations of the judgment that is soon to come. I never thought that God would choose me for such a phenomenon, and nothing has prepared me for what I experienced this week.
As I was trying to go to sleep Wednesday night, I closed my eyes and started to drift off, when suddenly I saw a disturbing image. It was a massive concrete block, and over its precipice was Hell. A man was lying on top of the block, holding onto a rope that was pulling him toward the edge. He was close to plummeting over into the fiery abyss, but he wouldn’t let go. Even at the last moment before plunging into Hell, he refused to release the very thing about to pull him in.
To see a vision so distinct for the first time was surreal but it only lasted for a brief moment, like a flash before my eyes that was there and then gone. The image was not photorealistic, but resembled a horrifying painting. It snapped me out of my near-sleeping state, and God immediately began to whisper the interpretation into my spirit. I haven’t been able to get this vision out of my mind all week, and even though I had a different blog topic in mind, felt compelled to write on this experience. He gave it to me for a reason; it is a message for every reader, whether saint, sinner, or backslider. Time is running out.
The concrete block is Christ, because He is our solid foundation. 1 Corinthians 3:11: For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. If our feet are truly planted on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will never fall. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner (Psalm 118:22). His people rejected Him, yet He became the foundation upon which the entire church, from then to today, is built.
But if that solid block was Jesus, Hell was all around it because every doctrine outside of Jesus Christ is from Hell, and will lead there. John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If we stand on the rock of Jesus Christ, we are safe, but nothing outside of Him can save us. This is why the church is in such danger as it waters down Jesus’ message or doubts the Word of God; we are chipping away at the only thing keeping us from falling. He is the Messiah who bled and died for us, and His blood is the only thing that can wash our sins away. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:11).
But the man was allowing the rope to pull him off the foundation, and was about to fall over the edge into Hell. The rope represents the sins that we are unwilling to let go, even to the very end. All of us struggle with a particular sin or addiction that is our weakness. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us (Hebrews 12:1). Many have let go of that sin that so easily besets them and are safe, but the Lord is giving this vision as a warning that too many are clinging to the rope that is about to pull them into Hell.
Isaiah 5:18: Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope. Woe unto those who cling to that rope! They think they have plenty of time. The precipice is right in front of them and they will soon fall over and the flames will engulf them for all eternity. But the enemy has blinded them to how close they are. The devil has made it look like they have a great distance left, and will have many more opportunities to let go. They will only find out how much danger they are in once they begin to fall, but it will be too late. They have traded their immortal souls. They have given eternity for a little pleasure here on Earth, but they will soon lift their eyes in Hell with nothing to show for it but the ashes of a burning rope in their hands.
But the flaming abyss isn’t just Hell. Many are clinging to sin even as the Lord could return any day now. The signs of the end times are all around us, but Christians are still playing around with sins that will cost them their one flight out. If the edge of the block is the Rapture, the flaming abyss is the Tribulation that will cover the planet once the Bride has been taken away. Sinners and even many Christians are holding onto ropes of nicotine, alcohol, drug addiction and lust that will cause them to be left behind. Jesus is only coming back for a church without spot, blemish, or any such thing. Ephesians 5:27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. And lukewarmth is just as terrible; God is giving lukewarm Christians the same warning He gave to the Laodicean church: because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth (Revelation 3:16). How terrible to be spewed out of the mouth of God into Great Tribulation!
God is trying to wake up the Christian church to the fact that we have clung to a rope of compromise. We are trying too hard to please the world and win their approval, and are forsaking Jesus in the process. Revelation 2:4: Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. The American church is teetering on the brink and is about to plunge over the edge, but is refusing to let go of the ropes. Trying to please the world will lead us on a path straight to Hell. Today is the day to heed this warning because tomorrow could be too late. Don’t allow those ropes to pull you away from Christ. We must separate from the world and all the sin it has to offer. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, (2 Corinthians 6:17).
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