Get Right - Or Get Left

GET RIGHT – OR GET LEFT

Pastor Bruce Ball

As Christians, we are not supposed to know when the end will occur. However, we are supposed to be aware of the season and of the signs. Today, I want to paint a quick picture of what the Bible tells us of the ending, and then see if there is anything in that story that we can use to help us get ready for it.

To start with, we need to realize that the Bible is “THE” authority and there is nothing that supersedes that authority.

2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 state:

‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness – so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’

Every generation of Christians since the days of Jesus have felt that His return would be in their lifetimes, and we think that, too. What makes it different for us is that we have seen things come to pass in this generation that could never have been thought of before, and those things have made it possible for all the prophecy to come true. At this point, we are basically waiting until God says “Now.” And please understand that this could happen a thousand years from now, and it could also happen today. It behooves each one of us to make sure we do all that we can to get ready, and help others get ready.

Today, I am going to talk about the end, as man knows it, and what that means to us.

First of all, it seems that we are in the age of polls. Every night on the news, it will tell which poll puts which presidential candidate ahead. And, of course, we all have seen how many politicians will forsake their so-called ‘ideals’ just over what the latest poll says the people want. For those of you who have Internet service, many web sites that you visit will offer polls on a variety of subjects for you to take.

Keeping in line with that wonderful information I just gave you, we are going to give you some more information taken from recent polls. According to a recent Time/CNN poll, since 9/11, 35% of Americans are paying more attention to how the world’s daily news might relate to the end of the world.

People have always had a preoccupation with the future. In the world, people gamble on the outcome of a game or a particular stock. Others go to Ouiji boards or to horoscopes to see what kind of future they are going to have.

A couple of years ago, there was a TV show that was about a man getting tomorrow’s paper today, and how he went about trying to prevent the bad things that were going to happen.

The need to know about what will happen even included the sex of unborn children. Women used to spit in Sani-Flush. It would turn one color if it were a boy, and another color if it were a girl.

The "Left Behind" books and videos have fed this hunger to know what will happen next. One of the earmarks of new religious groups has often been the specific predictions their founders made concerning the coming end of the world.

Three of the most-often questions asked by people, including churchgoers, are:

1. What is the “End Times”?

2. When will it happen?

3. What does all that mean to ‘me’?

People are starting to become more aware than they have ever been before. They want to know what is going to happen in the world so they will know what is going to happen to them. Today, I am going to give you some answers to each of those three questions, so get ready; we are getting ready to embark on a very curious journey. A journey you need to know about.

1. WHAT IS THE “END TIMES”?

Prophecy is the telling of an event before it occurs. It is akin to forecasting the weather for next month, except Bible Prophecy is accurate and weather forecasting isn’t. I know. I used to be a weather forecaster.

Prophecy is a sign of God’s love for us. He knows what is going to happen in the last days before Christ returns, and it isn’t all going to be fun and games for Christians, so God is forewarning us so that we can be properly prepared and ready. If God did not love us, He would not care if we were prepared or not.

For today’s sermon, prophecy is explained as what the Prophets of old said concerning the end of the world tomorrow. These men of God who walked through the Old Testament, were given words and visions from God to let His people know that there would come a day when it would be too late to be Godly. There would come a day when all decisions would be made and the consequences of those decisions must be lived with. There would come a day when there would be an end to the world as we know it. These days would be the End Times, and we needed then, and still need today, to be ready for them.