Chronicles of the End Times
Occasionally, people say, are we really in the last days? How do we know? Does it matter one way or another? We will try to answer these questions and many others in this study. But the most important question may be, how can we reach others with hope in these changing times? One part of prophecy is often emphasized over another, causing us to lose perspective and miss the blessing and beauty of prophecy in scripture. I have taken the information in this study from many authors and teachers who have their lives studying God's word. I have added some insight that the Holy Spirit taught me. With God's help, I have endeavored to keep the whole counsel of the word of God in full view to give us an accurate picture of Christ and His great love for a lost world. I pray that this will challenge you and cause you to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it has me preparing it. Let's begin!
Chronicles of the End Times
When The Cup Of Iniquity Overflows
A church service raided, 150 worshipers dragged into the dark, and a question too many of us avoid: what will we do with our freedom while half the world follows Jesus under threat? Today we trace a hard, honest line from Nigeria’s persecution to the quiet apathy that settles over safe places, and we refuse to let propaganda numb our hearts. This is a sobering tour through Isaiah’s warning to “seek the Lord while He may be found,” the biblical pattern of the “cup of iniquity,” and the unflinching hope anchored in the cross and resurrection.
We dig into why discernment matters when regimes spin numbers and rewrite truth, and how believers can guard their compassion without surrendering it. You’ll hear how Scripture frames urgency without panic: God declares the end from the beginning, mercy stands open, and judgment is measured, not impulsive. From Genesis 15 to the words of the prophets, we show how patience and justice live together in God’s timeline—and why that makes the gospel more urgent, not less.
This conversation is also deeply practical. We talk about using our remaining window of freedom to share the good news with neighbors, to pray with names and nations in mind, and to back up concern with action for the persecuted. If your feed has trained you to either doom-scroll or tune out, this is a reset toward courage, clarity, and love. Listen for a call to lift your head, strengthen your resolve, and seek first the kingdom with trust that God still opens doors and does the impossible.
If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for future episodes, and leave a review so more people can find messages that tell the truth with hope.
- S
Speaker
00:10
Welcome everyone. This is Russ Scalzo Chronicles of the End Times. Thank you for being with me today. Today we are going to look at what is going on in the world as far as Christian persecution. And there are many that deny that it's even happening, such in Nigeria. Yesterday 150 Christians were captured. The terrorists came right into the service, right into the church and yanked them all out. No one knows how many have been injured or killed, but this has been going on in Nigeria for quite some time. Christians suffer significant severe persecution to such a degree that Nigeria has been the most violent place in the world for followers of Jesus Christ. In northern Nigeria, twelve states have implemented Islamic law, creating a system where Christians live as second-class citizens, and conversion from Islam can be severely punished. That's an understatement. So, what's going on in the rest of the world? I had a nice talk with one of my dear friends. We talked about the US, you know, and we talked about the end times and the coming persecution of the church, which is really just around the corner. But as we talked, we realized that we seem to focus on the United States here in our situations, but we have great freedom still here. Amazing freedom. Most of the time, the Church of Jesus Christ doesn't take advantage of that freedom by sharing their faith one on one with their neighbors and their workers and their fellow students. Because in reality, the population of the world is roughly eight point two billion people, and half of that number are in countries where there is severe persecution for those who want to follow Jesus Christ. And being that our population is around three hundred and eighty million here in the United States, we are in the minority of the world. And for us to base our theology of the coming persecution of the church in the last days is quite foolish, for the majority of Christians in other parts of the world have been suffering persecution for years. In Isaiah chapter fifty-five, verse six, Isaiah tells us to seek the Lord while he may be found. It's a reminder that there is a limited time to connect with God, encouraging sincere pursuit and turning away from our wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, with the promise that God will generously forgive. Now there is a time limit. You might say, well, I've never heard of that before in Scripture, that there's a time limit, but there is a time limit on each one of us individually. We have time to cry out to God, get forgiveness, get a new life, become born again before our life ends. I would call that a time limit. And on this earth, there is also a time limit. God has a word that He's going to come back, and there's going to be great destruction. There's going to be great judgment. I love the book of Isaiah. In chapter 46, Isaiah talks about this. He starts in verse 8. Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind. You transgressors, remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there's none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, from the ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel will stand, I will accomplish all my purpose. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass. God will fulfill his plans. The world is ablaze right now to get our news, our information from reliable sources, not from those who temper it and shape it and form it to their own desires. Like I said before, it's typical with the reports of those killed in Iran, some still reporting three to four thousand is far greater than that if you listen to those who are on the ground. A regime that consistently lies, a regime whose leader is demon possessed. The people of Iran have been living in a prison. And to believe these people when they say, Well, we're not hanging any more people, we're not killing any more people, is like believing the devil himself when he tells us a lie. The Lord is calling out for people to repent and to turn to him. And again, in Isaiah forty-five, the Lord says, I am the Lord and there is no other. I did not speak in secret in a land of darkness. I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, Seek me in vain. I the Lord speak the truth. I declare what is right. Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, you survivors of the nations. God is calling the world to repentance. In verse twenty-two of the same chapter he says, Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return. To me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear allegiance. There are a cup of iniquity, a gathering of sin, and sin mounts up, it doesn't go away, unless we repent, and many times in the Old Testament we see where God called out nations. The Lord prophesied that Israel would have to wait to go into their land of promise, because some of the nation’s there have not filled the cup of iniquity. Let's turn to Genesis chapter fifteen for a moment. Abraham is making a covenant with God. We're going to pick it up in verse twelve. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold a dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions, as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, and you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in a fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. Some versions say that the cup of iniquity is not yet full. The Lord promised that Israel would have this land, this promised land, but they were going to have to wait, they were going to suffer four hundred years under the mighty hand of Pharaoh, and then they were going to be released because God has timing for everything. And the Amorites, they had time to turn and repent. Yet the cup of iniquity continued to build until it overflowed. And when it did, that's when the judgment came. And what was this great sin on the Amorites? It was the sacrificing of their own children to demon gods. Total barbaric practice, thumbing their nose at the true God. In our own way in a modern society, we're doing the same thing. God is patient and he is kind, but this world will face a judgment. That's why the cross is so important. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most monumental moment in the history of the world. Because God foresaw the hearts of men and women. He knew what we would do. He knew we had no way out, so he came down to us and sacrificed his son that we could have salvation. It's an old message, but if we look at it in the light of the coming judgment upon this world, it suddenly comes into focus, and we realize what an amazing thing God has done. And although God has provided this way, this grace, this saving grace, this forgiveness, this great love, this outpouring of his gift to us, billions of people will not take it. And we stay away from the message of hell and condemnation and judgment because that doesn't sell. But the truth is the truth. And I pray today that you will share the good news that yes, judgment is coming, but Jesus is made away. Time is going by faster and faster. We can look at the clock, we can look at the calendar and say, well, time is the time. It's always been the same speed. It's not going to speed up. But if you have ears to hear and you understand time is speeding up. There is a rush towards the end. Nations are being changed. The world is being turned upside down. There is a stirring in every country of the world. That is a true sign that God is on the move, that the time is getting closer. And like Isaiah said under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, gather round all you survivors of the world, and repent and turn to me. And once again in Ezekiel, he says, I take no delight in the death of the wicked. We can't blame God for all the stuff that's going on in this world. It's our fault. But he has the cure. Lift your heads, for our redemption draws nigh. God is not a man that he should lie, or spew out promises that have no meaning. The end times aren't coming, they're here. God is just waiting for us to pray. God is just waiting for us to reach out, for he wants to fulfill all his word through us. No matter where you are in this world today, whether you have pennies in your pocket or billions of dollars in the bank, that will not affect your salvation, that will not affect your soul where it ends up, only your relationship with Jesus Christ. So, let's dig into the real riches, the power of the Holy Spirit, all the power that God has given to us. To seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all things will be added to us. Whatever we need, God will take care of it. But let us seek the kingdom of God first and watch what the Lord Jesus Christ does. How he blesses us, how he opens doors for us, how he does the impossible for those that we love, for those that we're praying for, we can't stop believing. This is Russ Scalzo for Chronicles the End Times. Keep looking up, the King is coming.
1×00:10/10:07