Matthew 24:14
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached
in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
In all actuality, it would seem
that we Christians have worked ourselves into a corner. Since the foundation of the church nearly two thousand years ago it
has been the effort to do as the Lord commanded and “go into all the world” and preach the gospel.
Even in our own day missionaries are sent out by the thousands to everywhere
from our own inner cities, to the capitals of the world, to the deepest, darkest jungles of Asia and Africa. Since the
gospel has been preached in nearly every single part of the world, it would appear to the naked eye that all that is left
for us to do is to wait for the Lord to return and keep busy until that day finally comes.
The prevalence of this thought in Christendom is more clearly seen than
heard and the fact of it is none more clearly seen than in the complete and total boredom that abounds in Christianity. As
stated, we have missionaries that go to the persons far from our home to preach, and for those near our home, we have evangelists
and preachers. It would seem for the layman that there is little left to do but tell the guy and gal we work with about God
once in awhile, pass around the collection plate at church if the elder couldn’t make it that week, teach a Sunday School
class if we are real dedicated, lead praise and worship service if they have such a gift, and, to fulfill our part of the
“go into all the world,” wear our Christian t-shirt to the mall as a witness…oh, and of course tithe.
Now, none of these things are bad in themselves and all the things mentioned
that are of service in the church as it is are of course needed, but if that is all there is for the vast majority to do then
it must be that Jesus is coming back soon to take us to heaven because the goal has been accomplished, or at least is very
close to being accomplished by those missionaries,preachers and evangelists we mentioned earlier.
If this were the case, and the thought that prevails in Christianity
were true, all would be fine and good and there would be no point in striving for something more spiritually than what we
already have and who we already are and there really would be nothing left for us but the rhetoric that we have heard before
that leads us to walk out of the church door Sunday afternoon with the thought, “That’s right, I shouldn’t
get angry so easily and so often! Good sermon!”
The only problem with all of this is, even should the prevailing thought
in Christianity be true that the work that is left is being wrapped up as we speak, we still have a great big problem on our
hands in that Jesus never said that when the work is done He will come; He said that when the work is done, the end will come.
These are two totally and entirely different things.The times just before
the Lord returns to this earth are commonly referred to in Christian circles as “the end times.” In the Word of
God, these times are described by many discouraging words, including terrible and distressing; indeed, distress that is described
as being unequaled ever before or ever hence. They are never described as being pleasant or ordinary; they are times so awful
that God cuts them short for the sake of those who are His (Matthew 24:22).
Since this time just before the Lord returns is as it is, there is special
instruction for those Christians who will go through it and that special instruction is to stand firm in the faith (Matthew
24:13), and to patiently endure (Revelation 13:10).
Now, there are many among us in Christian ranks that believe the call
to stand firm in the faith and to patiently endure during this time
is not for them but for those second class Christians who somehow are
saved absent the power of the Holy Spirit after God withdraws His Spirit from this earth and takes all the Christians who
have had nothing better to do but to listen to that rhetoric, we talked about earlier, for years on end while waiting for
the day they finally get out of this place before things go from “not bad” to absolutely awful. To these I have
really nothing to offer but a request that they reconsider their position on the matter, but to the rest, to those who know
what time it is, the following is offered.
As I mentioned in a sermon not too long ago, I have known the Lord
all of my life, that I can remember, and because I have known Him, I have a great deal of faith. Because of His faithfulness
and the faith He has granted me, I have seen more miracles than I can remember from healing, to financial, to other things
that no one else would care about but me and mine.
Well, last week I communicated with a person who really needs the
Lord to do something for them and really, all their other options have run out. When I spoke to this person I said to them
that I know for a fact that the Lord Jesus would do something on their behalf should we involve Him through prayer. Now, this
person needs a miracle, an out and out miracle, and when I finished what I had to say, I was very confident and, since it
was late, headed off to bed.
I woke up the next morning almost in a panic with the thought on my mind,
“Oh no! What did I say to that person? What if I was wrong? What
if the Lord doesn’t want to do something and I spoke out of turn instead of in faith?” And I panicked about it
for quite some time. After a while of panic, the question came to me, “What’s next? What matter do you take from
the Lord and put back into your own hands? What in your life would you like to have charge of that the Lord now has charge
of?”
And, as a human being I came up with an excuse disguised as an answer,
“None! But I didn’t seek You, Lord! That is why I am so afraid!” And then He inquired of me exactly when
the last time was I or someone in my family needed a miracle that I sought Him and inquired of whether He “wanted”
to do what was needed before I cried out to Him, “Jesus, please do this!” and expected that He would? The answer
was, “Never.” As it turns out my faith was lacking, yes, but not for no reason at all; my love was lacking all
the more.
The miracles the Lord has done for my family and I are generally
not only not believed when they are expressed by one of us to our fellow Christians, we ourselves are taken to be something
less than mentally stable many times. Which is fine with us because we know what He has done for us and we know where we would
be if He hadn’t done them, and we know who we would be without. I would rather be thought mad than in the situations
that would have been.
The fact is, to have such a close relationship with the Lord in our
day and age and to depend on Him in this manner is not normal; it is very unusual, and it has always been this way since God
created the heavens and the earth. This relationship with the Lord is not reserved for me and mine; there are many out there
who would know exactly what I am talking about and theseare the same who know that there must be more to Christianity than
what it appears to be at this time and there must be more to do than they seem to be doing. On both counts, they would be
right.
Brothers and Sisters, I submit to you: it is not the lack of things
that need to be done, or for the lack of souls that need to know the Lord, to hear the gospel as it truly is, that has lead
to our seemingly lack of things that we could do or people we could reach; it is the lack of our love that keeps us idle.
When our love does not go beyond our inner circles, neither does our witness. Should we somehow, willfully and prayerfully,
add to all that we already have, love, then not only would we have more to do, we would find that what is really lacking is
time to do it all.
Though the Lord’s return will be announced with the shout of
an archangel and the trumpet call of God, the end times will not be ushered in so plainly. In our own day we see Israel placing
her hope once again in Assyria (Isaiah 10) and the king thereof, the king of the North, as spoken of in the book of Daniel,
visiting for the first time since days of old. We see all the other nations’ hatred towards both Israel and the woman
on the beast(Revelation 17). We hear of wars and rumors of wars and know of the earthquakes and other disasters; we know that
the sun has the power to scorch people; and know that there are many out there who believe wholeheartedly killing a Christian
is a service unto God. These days have come upon us like a trap, and this because we have believed that somehow, some way,
things have changed and God has changed and now it is okay for us to be intoxicated with this life here on earth.
Everyone who is a Christian knows that there is something coming,
the mark of the beast which is the number of man, that must be received in order to buy or sell, or even live, and if this
mark is received than it means eternal death to its bearer. But to get around the ultimate and final choice to serve either
God or money, many have chosen to believe that they will not be here and many more besides think that, somehow, it will be
easy to decline. Though the choice will be made by God Himself for His chosen, life will not be easy at all, and absolute
and total love for God and faith in Him is going to be a requirement. If we do not live like this now, when things are fine,
how are we going to live like this then when things are terrible?
We must realize that, though times will change and circumstances
too, these will not change us. Any spiritual maturity, any addition of love, any increase in faith, any repentance, is our
choice, and it will not be determined by anything other than our own choice: our sincere seeking the Lord in prayer and efforts
to know Him more. Ladies and Gentlemen, if we are going to be prepared for the end, if our hearts are going to be prepared,
our souls and our minds, we must start now.
Perhaps the end will not find fulfillment in our day
and age or in our lifetime, but they will in someone’s lifetime and for these, for these as well, we must not think
that well enough is good enough. We must be who we need to be, not only for ourselves, but for those who depend on us to see
them through, by our words, our witness, and our example.
Matthew 25:8
“The foolish ones said to the wise,
‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.
