2035 Revelation

by Freddy Campbell

  Michael led them back to the ward and they showered and dressed.

  * * * * * *

  Twenty miles West of London, the annual M25 night race was almost ready to start. On the starting grid, there were forty cars lined up in the four lanes. The start was flood lit and drones with camera crews and support crews hovered above. Near the middle of the line up there was a bright yellow Lamborghini. One of the stickers on the car read ‘SANDHER.’ The driver was staring at a large screen above the start line. As the countdown started, he lifted a small container he was holding to his nose and snorted the white powder.

  The countdown reached zero and, with a roar, the cars took off towards the North like an angry swarm, with the fleet of drones following overhead. The numbers on the Lamborghini dashboard display scrolled up to one hundred and moved up higher as the driver accelerated and worked through the gears. Suddenly the driver’s vision was blurred as the chemicals in his bloodstream reached his brain. The car slewed from side to side as the driver struggled to stay conscious; the controls seemed to not respond. The car veered off course, leaving the road and careering up a steep embankment. At the top, the car left the ground and sailed over a wooden fence, plunging into the crop and sliding in the soft soil, coming to a stand still in the field on its side. The body of the driver lay slumped, unconscious, as two rescue drones dropped into field.

  * * * * * *

  That night, they followed Michael and Sebastian down to the church meeting. The journey was uneventful except for one point where they spent a few minutes listening for footsteps.

  Arriving at the church, Mark, Johnson and Sanjay all felt comfortable. They greeted the men and found it easy to chat to the members of the group.

  The meeting began with prayer and a time of listening to the Spirit to see what directions he might give.

  Led by John, they were prompted to ask the three newcomers if they understood what had happened and whether they felt secure that they were now saved, that they were sealed as children of God.

  Sanjay shared what he had learnt from the teaching on salvation he had watched. Johnson said that he truly felt a Christian and a part of Christ’s church.

  “What about you, Mark?” one of them asked.

  “I feel that I have crossed over like in the picture I had last night. My old life has gone. I am a new person in my new faith.” Mark replied confidently.

  “Can I be baptised?” asked Sanjay, “I read somewhere Jesus said we should repent and be baptised.”

  “Yes, of course,” said John, “Come over here.”

  He led them over to another space, like a large recess. He pressed a button and a section of the floor moved back to reveal a small pool with steps going down in two places.

  John asked Sanjay what he understood about baptism. Sanjay explained that he had read a story about an Ethiopian who had met one of the apostles. They talked in his chariot. When they came past some water, the Ethiopian had asked to be baptised.

  John gave him a towel and a white robe and showed him where to change behind a screen. John told them that in the time of Jesus, people were baptised to show a change of allegiance from one merchant group to another.

  When Sanjay emerged in his robe, two men were already in the water. He made his way carefully down the steps. He stepped into the water. It came above his waist.

  They said a few words, asking him if he was sure he wanted to be baptised and when he nodded, they helped him to go under the water so that his whole body was submerged. He came up beaming, raising both hands high. The men clapped and cheered.

  Johnson and Mark both said they wanted to be baptised. Long after, Mark remembered the moment he went down under the water: everything went dark, sounds were muffled, bubbles pushed past his face, his body relaxed. Then he rose up and was back in the light, with the water streaming off him, and he could hear the applause and cheering.

  Mark felt relieved: he was now marked; it was a sign of his commitment; there was no going back; he was in deep.

  The men agreed that it would be good to have a worship time.

  “Let’s raise the roof!” one of them joked, “my spirit is bursting to give thanks.”

  “Let’s start with ‘Praises Rising,”’ said Jake.

  Mark remembered some of the tune from the night before, and was able to join in. It was the first time he had sung freely since his days in the Nursery as a small child. He felt tears of joy mixed with sadness for the years that he had not used this gift. The men were gathered around the three and they stamped their feet on the floor with the drumbeat.

  The next song was about what a good day the day of salvation is. They sang about sins washed away. The men were jumping up and down and throwing their arms in the air. They joined arms in a large circle around the musicians in the centre and danced. There was a line where they shouted together, “You have saved me.” The three players continued by improvising, and some of the men took it in turns to lead chorus lines that they repeated together. Mark joined in, feeling some freedom. He could not remember if he had danced before, but he followed the others as best he could. The more he gave himself, the more freedom he felt. Soon, he was jumping and stamping his feet.

  They sang several more songs of celebration.

  Mark asked D if they could play the slower song he had found, with the words, “Hallelujah, Praise The Saviour, Christ has come and shown us the way.”

  To his surprise, they knew it, and with a smile, Steve started playing the opening bars on the keyboard. The men all sang together in a circle. When they got to the line, “I don’t stand alone,” they put their arms on each other’s shoulders. Another wave of emotion went through Mark. He felt so happy to be accepted into this group, he could feel the tears coming again.

  The musicians played on and some of the men spoke out prayers of thanks. In his heart, Mark joined in with every prayer. These were his brothers. He felt that a bond had been forged that would last for the rest of his life.

  They spent time at the end of the meeting with hot cups of tea, sitting and chatting together in a big circle.

  Johnson asked if they were all in units or if they were in Sick Bay like them.

  “I am a Supervisor,” said John.

  “So am I,” said Steve, the keyboard player. Most of the others were in units. “We hear the Spirit calling us to stay with our units so that we are available for anything he calls us to do, like making contact with new people, like when Sebastian contacted you.

  “How do you spend your days?” asked Sanjay.

  They explained that they followed the instructions given on the information screens.

  “The difference is that we are awake, we are alive. We are free to pray and listen to the Spirit. It is exciting. Every morning, we rise and wait for the Lord to direct us. If he says, pray, we pray. If he says, speak to that man, we do it,” explained one of them.

  “How do you leave the units to get to the meetings?” asked Mark.

  “The Lord makes everything we do possible,” said another, patiently. “He showed us a way to avoid the gas. We have these, we slip them into our noses.” He showed him a clever little filter device that fitted into his nostrils. “Then we leave after the others are asleep. We all know back ways to get down here.”

  “Are we going to have to go back to our units?” Mark asked the question that part of him did not want to ask.

  John answered, sensing his worry,

  “That is simple: we wait for the prompting of the Spirit. We will enquire with you, when he leads us to. The Spirit knows the times and places of all things. He helps and guides us all, exactly as we need. Whatever the Lord asks you to do, he will provide the means and he will give you grace to do it. He has plans for you and they will help you.”

  Mark made a mental note to look up the word ‘grace’ in the morning. He was relieved and he felt sure that the Lord would prepare him for whatever was in store.

  Sanjay echoed his thoughts, “I want to fol
low the Lord where he leads. Before, I had nothing and now I feel like I have so much.”

  The others smiled at him and agreed.

  Another question came to Mark.

  “Are we rebels?” he asked.

  John grinned at him.

  “In a sense, I suppose we are. We come here in secret; we are breaking the rules being here. But we do what we do out of love. Love for the Lord, love for each other and love for the rest who do not yet know.”

  “But are you planning to put an end to the New Order?” Mark enquired.

  John raised his eyebrows.

  “No. But we pray for it to end. We long for freedom for everyone.”

  Later on, they said their farewells and headed with Sebastian to the tunnel. The corridors were silent as they slipped back up to the ward.

  That night, Mark was able to relax like never before.

  As he drifted off to sleep, he prayed, “Lord, my life is in your hands. Thank you for bringing me here.”

  His dream that night took him to a place he did not recognise. There were people working on different tasks, yet there was a remarkable sense of unity and purpose. They were preparing for something. He stood in a hiding place and watched them moving, speaking in quiet voices. No one noticed him. Their faces were calm but full of intent. Among them, Johnson and Sanjay were part of the group.

  * * * * * *

  Flashback Saturday 20th January 1990

  The four friends stood together in a large conference room in Davos, Switzerland. They were surrounded by a large group of elegantly dressed people from every continent. On the wall in front of them they were screens showing groups of people gathered in other countries.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” began the American. “Today we celebrate a watershed. The Cold War has officially ended! The historians of the world will write their accounts and they will not credit us with success in bringing the Soviet Union to its senses, but we know the truth.

  “Phase Three preparation work can now begin in earnest. We have teams who are mapping the world’s resources. Other teams are drawing up proposals for the locations and functions of the megacities. We have design teams who are working on the blueprints for the layouts of the cities. Our biochemical teams are making good progress towards creating the right types of control drugs we will need. The next ten years will be crucial in moving closer to our goal. We need progress in computer technology to advance to a point where computer use is universal in all developed countries. Then the time will come for us to surprise the world with our…” he paused, “little takeover! Timing is everything, as we well know.”

  “Let us drink a toast,” said the Englishman. “To Phase Two completed and our success in bringing the Soviet Union into line with our aims.”

  The gathering responded and the champagne glasses in their hands were lifted.

  16th April 2035

  DAY 5

  President Hussain was clearly enjoying his breakfast. The two aides waited while he watched footage of the driver on the start grid and the car crash that followed on his screen.

  He chortled.

  “Excellent work. That will put Sandher in his place. How much did be lose, betting in the race?” he asked.

  “We believe, Sir, that he had placed ten million credits on his grandson coming in the top three.”

  The President almost chocked on his coffee.

  “Fantastic! Serve him right. You have made my day. They will not be posing in that car for a while.”

  * * * * * *

  At breakfast that morning, Mark shared his dream and asked the others if they had had vivid dreams since they left the unit.

  “The Lord often speaks to me in my dreams,” said Michael.

  “Why do you think that is?” asked Sanjay.

  “I asked him one time,” replied Michael, “and the reply I got was that our minds are so easily occupied when we are awake. In a dream, he has easy access to show us things or speak to us. Sometimes it is far from what we expect. You will see in the Scriptures, there are many examples of people hearing from the Lord in dreams, in many different ways.”

  “It was a dream that started the journey for me to be here,” said Mark.

  The others looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

  “I had a dream of a huge storm, when normally I never had dreams.”

  “One of the effects of the gas I told you about is that your senses are dulled and you have dreamless sleep, like you are sedated,” replied Michael.

  “Mark, what was the dream?” enquired Johnson, looking steadily at him.

  He told them about the awesome sandstorm. He remembered it clearly. He described how he carried on that day as if nothing had happened. He related how he had had the same dream the following night, except this time there had been Sebastian speaking his name.

  Michael was clearly moved, hearing him tell his story. He wiped his eyes, smiled and said,

  ‘The Lord answers our prayers in wonderful ways.”

  “What about you, Johnson?” asked Mark.

  “It was Sebastian. I kept seeing him and he would smile at me with his eyes. One day, we travelled up in a lift together and without turning to me, he said, “there is someone who cares for you who wants to meet you. He is God. If you want to meet him, show me by rubbing your nose.”

  That morning I had been sitting in breakfast and a question came to me: “Who really knows you?” The thought stayed with me all morning. I started to realise that I was alone; no one around me really knew me. I was still thinking about it when he asked me. So I rubbed my nose. Later, I was directed here by the on-screen instructions and the rest you know.”

  Mark grinned then he asked, “What about you, Sanjay?”

  “It was Sebastian for me too. I would pass him from time to time. He would sometimes say things to me out of the blue that matched what I was thinking about. One time, I was working in the canteen kitchen and he was there. I was thinking about whether I could tell if what I was doing was real, and not my imagination. He looked at me and he whispered, “The source of all truth is God.”

  “I just looked at him. We carried on as normal but it had an impact. I could not stop thinking about it.”

  “The next morning, we were there again and he said, “You can meet God. If you want to know what I am talking about, stop sweeping and tie your apron tighter.” So I did. That same day, I came here. I was instructed by the screen like you two.”

  They looked at Michael.

  “How did the information screen know to send us here?” asked Mark.

  Michael smiled at them.

  “We have people in all sorts of places. We have found ways to infiltrate the system. We sent a message and they arranged the instructions. It was easy. Now, excuse me, I have a few things to do.”

  That morning Mark searched for the word ‘grace.’ He learned that it is used a lot in Scripture and has a deep meaning. He saw that it has to do with God’s kindness that flows from his love. He linked it with the favour the Lord gives even when we do not deserve it. He pondered some words he found: ‘it is by grace you have been saved through having faith-it is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by the things you do, so that no one can boast about what they have done.’

  He knew that he had not deserved to be plucked from the treadmill of his previous existence. He understood that he had not asked for it. The Lord had decided to engineer it so he concluded that there would be purpose to what was going to happen, whatever that was going to be. He felt comfort in that. He did not feel ready to go back to the unit.

  He searched for some songs with the word ‘grace’ that would match his contemplation. He found a song that had the words, “It’s by grace I go free, you rescued me, now all I am belongs to you.”

  He found another that went, “Your grace is everything, more than I need.” The song was sung by a woman. The voice was beautiful. He could not remember hearing a female voice in song before, but it reminded him of the
warmth of the sunny days in the Nursery. That was the last time he could remember hearing the sound of a woman’s voice. He played the songs over and over. It was like water to his thirsty soul.

  That evening, over supper, they shared what they had found. Sanjay had explored more teaching on salvation. He shared that in ancient times, God had revealed to the people of Israel that, once a year, a sacrifice should be made. It would take away the sin of the people. The priest laid hands on a goat so that it took all the sin and then it was released into the wilderness, where it would likely die of exposure. Jesus died on a cross to pay once for all for all people in all time.

  “It’s amazing,” he told them, “Jesus was the one with no sin who deserved to live. We all deserved to die for rejecting God’s ways, but we live because he paid the price. There was no one else who could have done it. His sacrifice is our ticket to return to God. Another thing: in those days, if you were sold into slavery, your freedom had to be paid for by someone related to you. It could not be a stranger or a foreigner. Jesus is called the ‘Lamb of God’ and he is called the ‘Son of Man’. He was fully human and fully God.”

  He paused then continued,

  “We cannot earn salvation by doing something. We have to accept it as a gift. God reveals his severity in his judgment on us but he also reveals his love and generosity through the sacrifice and gift. It blows me away.”

  Johnson had spent time finding out about the Trinity.

  “There are three – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are all God and yet they are distinct. The Father always was and is in heaven. The Son came down and lived his life on earth for thirty-three years then returned to the Father. The Spirit comes from God. His job is to guide us and to lead us into truth. The thing that intrigues me is that they are three and yet they are one: incredibly close in relationship, knowing each other and in complete unity. In them, there is no separation, nothing hidden, nothing withheld,” he said. “The thing that I have been pondering is that it says we are made in God’s image. If God is relational, then we are meant to be in relationship with each other. Right?”