The Upside of Studying the End Times
Various Scriptures
March 1, 2009
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me: Last week we talked about four cautions we should keep in mind when studying the end times.
And I railed against the extremism that’s present in the lives of many who are just obsessed with the end times instead of being obsessed with loving God and others.
Well I got to thinking that I may have unintentionally promoted another form of extremism, and that is to ignore the end times completely.
And I think that’s just as dangerous – and actually, even more dangerous because if we don’t understand at least some basic foundations, then we won’t be adequately prepared for what Jesus and other Scriptures tell us is coming before He returns.
I can be a person of extremes. It’s easy for me to reject something outright if I’m not careful.
For instance, because of a bad experience I had at a retreat, I rejected anything to do with the charismatic and Pentecostal movements.
I avoided some of my Pentecostal and charismatic friends like the plague. It was like, “Don’t speak to me. Especially in tongues.”
It was an extreme position because I refused to look and see the good that God is doing around the world through these people, and I couldn’t see that I could learn a few things about loving God.
God had to do some major softening of my heart over a number of years, and today I can thank God that my best friend is a Pentecostal pastor right here in Aberdeen.
We: The thing about extremism is that it’s a major turn-off to a lot of people. I’m turned off by things like obsession with the end times, and maybe some of you are as well.
So how do we avoid extremism, especially about this important issue?
Well, I think the answer lies in noting the four cautions we covered last week, and also taking into account the upside of studying the end times.
The antidote to extremism is balance. And in this case we need to see that there is a balance between the extremes of obsession and ignorance.
So my hope is that you’ll walk out of here today with a sense of balance regarding our study of the end times.
God/You:
Let’s start of by looking at the four cautions from last week:
> Remember that no one has it all figured out.
At best, it’s all speculation.
> Remember that the day and hour of Christ’s return is none of our business! Matthew 24:36, Acts 1:7-8)
> Remember that we are not to become obsessed with the end times.
> We are to be obsessed with loving God and loving others.
> Remember that the goal is not knowledge, but preparation.
Today I’d like to discuss five ways studying the end times should impact us on a personal level today.
A lot of what I want to share with you today I gleaned from The NIV Application Commentary, particularly about the last four points.
I’d love to tell you I thought of all this on my own, but quite honestly, I’m not all that smart at times, and the author of this volume of the commentary, Michael J. Wilkins, really helps put things in perspective, so I gratefully acknowledge that I’m sharing some of his wisdom with you today.
We’re not going to be able to spend a lot of time on each of these, but I think you’ll get a good idea on why it’s important that we not neglect the study of end times.
The first way this study should impact us is that…
1. Studying the end times should bring a sense of anticipation for Christ’s return.
One of the stigmas of end-times study is that it can come across as just a bunch of negative doom and gloom stuff, and that’s not the end-all of what the end times are all about.
The bottom-line of the end times is that Jesus is coming back. And that should bring some excitement to us.
Titus 2:12-13 –
We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
What kind of day does it say it will be? Wonderful!
Any of you married? Did you look forward to your wedding day, or was it with a sense of dread and fear?
Hint: If your spouse is here, you need to say you looked forward to it, okay?
I don’t know of a single kid who doesn’t look forward to Christmas. Or to their birthday. They’re excited about it.
The thought of Christ’s return should bring an excitement to our lives as believers and followers of Jesus.
It’s going to be a great day and we’ll be leaving all this crud behind us. We’ll be with Jesus.
The second way that studying the end times should impact our lives in the present is that…
2. Studying the end times should promote godly living in the present times.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24(NLT) –
23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
Why does Jesus tell us of all the stuff that’s coming our way before He returns?
Is it to scare us? Is it to give us something to speculate and argue over?
No, He tells us these things to encourage us to godly living.
It says in this passage here in 1 Thessalonians that Paul’s prayer was that God would make us holy in every way so we would be blameless when Jesus returns.
Anybody been blameless lately? Hadn’t thought so.
But God can so work in us that we can say no to willful sin, if we’ll just let Him. And it’s all the more important as we reflect on the fact that Jesus could return at any time.
This is part of the “being ready” that Jesus talks about in these chapters. We want to be ready by being “caught” living for Christ and not ourselves.
So I can’t urge you enough to surrender your life completely to Christ so the Holy Spirit can fill you and empower you to live a holy and blameless life.
Here’s the third way that studying the end times should impact us:
3. Studying the end times should make us aware of difficult times ahead.
Chapter 24 of Matthew outlines some of that, and we’ll be going through some of these things specifically as we work our way through the passage, but understand that it’s going to be rough going in the future.
There will be wars and rumors of war. There will be natural disaster. There will be things that affect the world in general.
There will be things that affect the Church of Jesus Christ.
There will be deception in the name of Jesus, and there will be rejection of Christ and His people. This rejection will take the form of persecution and even death.
Anybody here looking forward to that? I can’t say I am.
I came across a guy in one of the websites I visit saying He wanted to be persecuted. He had a warped sense of understanding regarding this.
If you’re an honest believer and follower of Jesus, particularly in the end times, you won’t have to find persecution. It’ll find you.
I don’t think it’s anything you’ll need to advertise on “Tradio” for.
“You’re caller 27, how can we help you?”
“Yeah, I’m looking to get some persecution. They can call BR-549 for more information. Thanks…”
Knowing this stuff is coming will help us prepare ourselves so we can stand up against it when it comes.
Again, we prepare by living for Christ. Then He can fortify our spirits to face what’s coming.
It helps us anticipate all the more the coming of Jesus so we can be removed from the hardships and be with Christ for eternity.
But make no mistake – there are rough times ahead, for the world, and for the Church of Jesus around the world.
Let’s look at the fourth way that studying the end times should impact our lives.
4. Studying the end times should make us heed the warnings of impending judgment.
There is no question about the fact that Jesus’ words in these next two chapters contain words of judgment for those who are not ready to meet Him.
Prophecy like what we find in these next two chapters of Matthew can be used for encouragement, but it is also a stimulus for repentance.
I’m not saying pastors and other preachers need to become doom-sayers when discussing prophecy, but we also can’t ignore that judgment is coming on those who reject Christ.
This is why when I tell people about Jesus, I have to tell them what Jesus saves us from – an eternity in hell, and that that’s what they face by rejecting Him.
We also need to be aware that even though believers are spared the judgment of heaven or hell, we will still be called to account for our lives, and whether we lived for Christ or for ourselves.
Romans tells us that all of us will give account of himself to God.
So the question we as believers need to ask is this: “Am I ready to answer to God, or do I need to make some adjustments with God’s help so I can live for Him?”
Another question we need to ask is this: What am I doing to help other people escape that big judgment?
And this leads to the last way we should allow our study of the end times to impact us, and that is…
5. Studying the end times should convict us of our need to intensify efforts in missions and evangelism.
I’m convinced that as we study these passages, or any portion of end times prophecy, we should be fueled with a vigorous involvement in missions, evangelism, and church planting.
By the way, I’m grateful to be part of a denomination that believes in all three of these things as being core to what being a Wesleyan is all about.
When we’re gripped with the fact that the souls of men and women are at stake, we’ll move our study of the end times beyond charts and graphs and books and idle curiosity and we’ll be concerned with our neighbors, friends and loved ones.
We’ll be concerned about those people across the country and around the world who don’t yet have a copy of God’s Word in their language and don’t have workers who can tell them about Christ and His sacrifice on their behalf so they can believe on Him.
Active participation in reaching out to a lost world enables people across the nation and around the world to be prepared to meet the Lord when He comes in glory.
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.”
Folks, do you understand that Jesus wants everyone to hear about Him and have the opportunity to believe in Him?
The Bible says that God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but wanting everyone to come to repentance and faith in Christ.
But it takes us doing our jobs of either going ourselves or sending others by supporting them with our finances.
My prayer is that as we study these next two chapters, you will be seized with a sense of urgency about those you know who are without Christ and those in other parts of the world without Him as well, and that you would be compelled to do something about it as God leads.
We: Once again I wonder if this message has been more of a “downer” than I intended.
So in case it has, I’d like to read the concluding paragraph from the NIV Application Commentary about this section of Scripture:
On a different note, there is strong encouragement in Jesus’ statement. Even though at times opposition appears to be insurmountable, true Christianity will assert itself in the preaching of the gospel message. The prophetic statement of Jesus assures us that nothing can stop this. To the churches around the world that persevere under governments that have legislated against evangelism or proselytizing – for example, in some Islamic or communist nations – this is a powerful, immediately relevant promise. This is also a powerful promise to those in Western countries that have become increasingly secularized. No matter how bad things may get within public opinion or the political arena, no matter how much government may legislate against Christianity, or no matter how much persecution is mounted against it, the gospel cannot be stopped until the end, when Jesus returns in glory and power. (p. 795)
Folks, as we go through these next few weeks and we look at the rough stuff Jesus says will come, I want you to be encouraged by the fact that Jesus wins.
His message will not be stifled by the actions of man.
We’re on the winning side. And it’s up to you and me to act like it.
Let’s be a people who really believe that Jesus is the King who might return at any moment to find His people waiting and watching with anticipation of His glory.
