Strangely enough there are many
folk who call themselves Christians, who scoff at the
idea that the world is coming to an end. It is true that there
are some solemn hearted people who think seriously and
who realise that the prophecies of the Bible are focusing
upon our day and that the end of all things is really
getting close. But the vast majority of people today pay no
attention at all to the end of the world and the
coming of Jesus Christ. I talked to a minister of a very
well known church who said: "Oh it might come a thousand years from now."
Yes, scientists have made some very
strange predictions from time to time. Others have predicted
that this world would collide with some other planet or crash
into the sun. But the important thing is, what does the Bible
say when it speaks of the end of the world. The Bible
ties the end of the world with one great event and that
is the coming of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 24:3 says:
"What is the sign
of thy coming and the end of the world."
We must give the alarm or message
1 Peter 4:7 says:
"But the end of
all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober and watch unto
prayer."
It is time someone began to sound out
the alarm as the end of all things draweth nigh. There was a fire one night; yes a house
was going up in flames. Inside that house there were some
children sleeping. If you were close by, what would you do?
would you do nothing! Why, if you were anything of a man or
woman you would rush down to the house and climb in the window,
or bang on the door and shout "Wake up."
We must give the alarm. But the devil
does not want us to do anything. He says:
"Keep quiet, do
not alarm people, after all people do not want to be disturbed.
They do not want anything that will frighten them. What they
want is a smooth message, a low-key message, well toned down so
no one will be alarmed. Preach about lilies, the flowers, the
birds, the world is tired of shocking news. Men are longing for
a message of peace."
Yes, that is exactly what the Bible
says:
"Peace, peace
where there is no peace."
But God tells us that this world is
headed for destruction so people should know all about it.
It is not an easy message, it certainly is not a popular message
but it is time that somebody began sounding the alarm. The Bible
says, if you will give the message, you have delivered your
soul.
Ezekiel 33:9 says:
"Nevertheless, if
thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not
turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast
delivered thy soul."
We must give the message and then we
have done what we could. I know that people can hear about
the end of the world and even believe in it and yet do
nothing about it. That is a sad fact. Some people might even
say that we are crazy, there is always the possibility of
that. The people in Noah’s day said that he was crazy but
that did not stop the flood from coming and today people might
say that we are crazy but at least we have done our part.
Satan is doing everything in his power to keep peoples' minds
occupied so they will not hear the alarming messages that God
has given in His Word for this very hour in which we live. There
are some people that say,
"Those prophecies
are just spiritual; we do not need to fear that they are to be
fulfilled literally."
The end
of world: a literal prophecy
Go back to the Old Testament times and
there you will find those prophecies about the first Advent
of Christ. You will find prophecies as to when He would be born, where He would be
born, the setting of his birth, and the very intimate details of
His death and crucifixion as
found in
Isaiah 53rd chapter. And every one of those Old
Testament prophecies were fulfilled right down to the finest
and minutest letter, every one of them.
All I can say, if all of those
prophecies of the First Advent were fulfilled literally,
then there is no question but likewise the prophecies of His
Second Advent will be fulfilled also. Now this is a very strong
statement but I do not think that an individual has the right
to claim to be a Christian if he or she does not believe in
the Second Coming of Christ
and the end of the world.
Why? Because St Paul says in
1
Corinthians 11:26:
"Don’t you know that every time you eat
of the bread and drink of the wine, ye do shew the Lord’s death
till He come?"
The eating of the bread and
the drinking of the wine points back to the cross. Yes, it
points back to the sacrificial gift of Jesus. But it does more
then that, it points forward to His coming again to when
He comes in majesty and glory.
The last time He came, He was only
recognised by a few. There are some who say: "If this gospel
is true, how is it that all the world, the kings and the great
men do not see it." They never did.
You never find the majority of the
people ever pay much attention to God’s message. Paul says
that the wisdom of God is foolishness
to men (1 Corinthians 3:19).
That is why when Jesus came He was
despised by the world, even the preachers of his day turned
against Him and finally crucified Him. They did
everything to try and quench His message to mankind to keep the
people from hearing that message. That was the first time He
came.
The next time He is not coming as a babe
in a manger, neither as the Saviour of mankind. But He is coming
as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And yet people
cannot see it, many do not believe it. There are some who say:
"I am not so much
interested in the coming of Jesus, what I really care about is
to have Him in the heart."
St Paul
on the end of the world
St Paul had something to say about that, you
can read about it in
1 Corinthians 15:19:
"If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." He says that if Christ is not coming
again at the end of the world then there will not be a resurrection of the dead.
Verse 18 says:
"Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."
How terrible it would be if this were to
be so but St Paul does not stop there, he goes on to speak
about the great day of days when the graves will be opened
and the loved ones will be united.
Verse 22 says:
"For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
Verse 23, tells us that this
takes place "…at
His coming."
Now is that not a
wonderful promise!
There are so many professed Christians who are not waiting and longing for the Lord’s return.
They are not living for their Lord’s return. They are
only interested in the things of his life. Many are prospering
and feel they have need of nothing.
Do you realise that one out of every
twenty texts in the New Testament talks about the end of
the world and the coming of Jesus Christ? There are
300 texts altogether so you can see that it is very important.
Enoch
on the end of the
world
It is rather interesting to read in the
Scriptures that Enoch, one of the earliest patriarchs of the
Bible, made a prophecy regarding the Lord’s return.
Jude 14
says: "Behold,
the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints."
It must have taken courage to preach
it back there in the very early stages of our world. It is
not so hard to preach it now for we can see the signs being
fulfilled almost every day.
Job
on the end of the
world
Job, one of the earliest Bible
characters living in the early stages of earth’s history,
made this remarkable statement.
Job 19:25 says:
"For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth."
I like people who know what they
believe, don’t you? Job says, "I
know what I believe." I like a positive faith
and we can be just as sure as was Job because God’s promises are
certain and sure.
David on the end of the world
As I read the Psalms, I find
that David also was just as positive as Job when he speaks
about the Lord's return.
Psalm 50:3 says:
"Our God shall
come and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him,
and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him."
Notice he says,
"Our God shall come."
You could not get anything more positive than that.
Verse 4 says:
"He shall call to the heavens from above,
and to the earth, that he may judge his people."
David saw it in a vision and it was very
real to him.
Joel
on the end of the
world
Joel the prophet was just as positive
as ancient Job and the psalmist King David.
Joel 3:16
says:
"The Lord also
shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and
the heavens and the earth shall shake but the LORD will be the
hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel."
Isaiah on the end of the world
Isaiah was one of the
greatest of the Old Testament prophets and it is interesting to
notice what he says.
Isaiah 25:8
says:
"He will swallow
up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from
all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from
off the earth: for the Lord hath spoken."
A lot of folk are frightened about
the end of the world. I guess that is because most folk are
not prepared for it. However I have noticed that as far as it concerns
God's people, that it offers only encouragement. I assure you
that I will be glad when God wipes away all the tears.
There is a lot of sorrow in this world, there are a lot of
heartaches also. There are homes going on the rocks, there are
little children being bashed and cruelly treated. There are
children that suffer all sort of pain and agony in the
hospitals. I am glad that the day is coming when the Lord
will take away all sorrow, will wipe away all the tears.
Just recently one of our young lads was pushing a child around
in a pusher and I asked him what was wrong with the child.
He
told me the father had bashed the child.
In
Isaiah 25:9 it says,
"And it shall be said in that day,
Lo, this
is our God; we have waited for him and he will save us: this is
the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in
his salvation."
Wouldn't it be wonderful if He could
come tonight and just take his handkerchief of love and wipe
away all of your heartaches, and all of your tears and say, "I have come to take you home."
That is just what Jesus has promised you.
Read about it in
John 14:2-3, which says:
"I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also."
That certainly is a wonderful hope. St
Paul calls it 'The Blessed Hope.' (Titus
2:13)
Paul speaks of
"The glorious appearing of our Lord and
saviour, Jesus Christ."
We are living right on the very edge of
eternity. It ought to be a solemn warning to each one of us to
get ready to do something about it. Some people, especially my
wife, often say to me,
"Brother Pepper, you speak
too loud."
I guess I do talk loud sometimes. I
have had to listen to some preachers and had to strain my ears to
hear what they were saying. So I do not want anybody coming up
to me in the judgment saying, "Brother Pepper,
when you spoke
the word of God you spoke so softly I could not hear what you
were saying." I want even deaf people in the
congregation to know what I am preaching about, so in the day of
judgement they will be without excuse.
There is another reason why I talk loud.
I think that when people go to sleep during the service it is
the preacher's fault. It could be that they were up too late the
night before, however it could well be that they went asleep
because they could not hear what was going on.
If ever there was a time when people
should be awake and attentive it is now, right now.
1 Thessalonians
4:16 says:
"For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first."
When the Lord gives that mighty shout,
then will be the time for God's people to go to the place that
He has prepared for them. Then there will be no more tears, no more sorrow,
no more heartaches, no more pain, for the former things will have passed
away.
May we be ready and waiting.