“Looking for the End Time while Living in the Meantime”.
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - If we just look at what is going on in our world wars and rumors (threats) of war, nation against nation, false Christ, false prophets, and an apostate religious system where entertainment, prosperity, popularity, fame, and fortune is reverend, and salvation is not even mentioned. There are famines, pestilences, earthquakes in diverse places, the weather system just seems to be all out of sorts we can’t hardly tell it was winter in the North with temperatures well above average while in the South they were experiencing snow in places that it never snows. Tornadoes in February in Michigan and the love of many has waxed cold. Humanitarian efforts are being stopped while innocent children, men and women are dying at the hands of criminals of war on both sides. People just don’t care or have compassion at all, road rage with people killing people because they didn’t let them cut in front of them or they did cut in front of them. T.V. is perverse and making a mockery of everything Holy, compromising preachers selling out for filthy lucre getting on T.V. acting like everything unholy and calling themselves Holy Vessels of God and that they are doing Kingdom work. Society is wicked leaning to its own understanding, desires, and fulfilling their own lust and mocking God. People are listening to everything except the Word of God. We are living in the end times.
When people say the end-times what normally comes to mind is Armageddon, apocalypse, or the end of the world. We will picture the man walking around with a sign saying the end is here. Fear will grip the minds of people and they will try to avoid any conversation or dismiss it as crazy talk when people mention the end times or last days. Understand God doesn’t want us to fear the End times / Last Days but wants us to prepare and live so that we can miss what is going to come. We must understand that the End Times / Last Days is God fighting against evil, selfishness, pride, arrogance, hatred, greed and all out sin.
So, we must look for the end times our blessed hope with earnest expectation waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, but we must live in the meantime.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURES: - 1 Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer”. Titus 2:12-13 “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”.
If I may combine these scriptures for the purpose of this message I would read it as follows “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”.
Now let’s look at these verses that I have combined. There are three things that we must understand from this passage. 1) is our need to understand the times in which we live, But the end of all things is at hand: this is what we call the Last Days or the End times. 2) how we must be intentional in our manner of living be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 3) understand our need to remain in communication with God through prayer watch unto prayer. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The word translated, “Near, or At hand”, is the same word Jesus used in Mark 1:15 where He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel”. Understanding this word, “near, or at hand” is key because this establishes the end times / last days. God has set in motion and at some point, fixed in the mind of the Father alone when Jesus will return and all that has been foretold will come to pass.
If you go back to Acts 1:11 the Bible says, “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. If you go to 1 Thessalonians 4 we find Paul teaching about the 2nd coming this is not talking about the 2nd coming or 2nd advent when Jesus comes to set up His millennial rule on earth this is talking about that blessed hope the Rapture. Understand that the New Testament proves that the early church expected Jesus to return at any moment. What they failed to understand was that God's time is not the same as ours. Jesus is in fact coming again; it's just that no one knows when, but the clock started ticking when Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1 and now can return at any time.
From the time of His ascension forward everything is moving toward the “Eschaton” or the end of all things. This word Eschaton the end of all things is where we get the two-word combination “Eschatology” Eschaton the end of all things and ology is to study. Example: - Theos is God ology is to study therefore Theology is the study of God. Eschaton the end of all thing’s ology is to study so Eschatology is the study of the end of all things.
Understand that we live in a world that is overrun by sin, selfishness, imperfection, greed, pride, lust, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. So, Eschaton the end of all things is the final part of earth’s history containing death, resurrection, judgment, the second coming, the new heaven and the new earth, but what we are looking for is the Rapture of the church. We understand that this end of all things is the end of a sinful world, the end of sin in this world not the end or the destruction of earth and mankind. The only things ending forever is Sin, Satan.
Now I know there may be some that will say the word Rapture, nor the word Eschatology is in the Bible, but Harpazo, Caught Up, Gathered are. Eschatology isn’t but end of all things or near or at hand is.
The Rapture
1. The Rapture is a source of comfort: - John 14:1-3 says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. 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 is not His 2nd coming that is the Rapture remember Harpazo means to catch, snatch, or gather unto oneself); that where I am, there ye may be also”. Jesus makes the most powerful declaration of the blessed hope of every believer, across every century, in the church the body of Christ and that is He will come and gather us unto Himself. That is comfort in the nth degree. We long for the blessed hope the return of Jesus to come and take us to the place He has prepared for us that where He is there we will be also.
2. The Rapture will be similar to His ascension: - Acts 1:9-11 says, “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. Luke 24:50-51 says, “And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven”. Jesus was carried away into Heaven on a cloud. The 2nd coming He is not coming on a cloud but on a White Horse Revelation 19:11-16 also read Zechariah 14:3-4 & 12:10, Matthew 24:30. The Rapture will be like His ascension He will come 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 & 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 describe Jesus coming at the Rapture like His ascension on a cloud, giving the ultimate blessing gathering us unto Himself. WATCH THIS: - He led the disciples as far as Bethany, this is very significant they were separated from the rest of the world. Only those that have been sanctified, separated unto Him will be part of the Rapture.
3. The Rapture is an intentional Rescue: - In Revelation 3:7 Jesus promises as the Holy, True, He that hath the Key of David, He that openeth and shutteh. He is literally saying how He is the only one that could offer blessed hope, the greatest promise ever made to mankind and that is He will keep them from the hour of temptation. The 10th verse says, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”. That is intention a plan, an aim, a thing intended to be, the goal and purpose. So, we see here that the Rapture is an intentional rescue from Tribulation for the church of Philadelphia and all of those that have given their lives to Jesus and are looking for that Blessed Hope.
All believers of all ages looked forward to that day, the end of all things. So now we understand the #1) our need to understand the times in which we live, But the end of all things is at hand: this is what we call the Last Days or the End times. We live in the end times, the last days which started with the ascension of Jesus back into heaven. We live in the last days, approaching the Eschaton the end of all things Looking for that Blessed Hope Jesus coming to gather His people unto Himself, the Rapture.
The 2) part we need to understand is how we must be intentional in our manner of living be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; We must be soberly, contrary to a lot of teaching this has nothing to do with wine or alcohol. To be sober is dealing with ourselves, what you owe to your own nature, this is to be wise and temperate, keeping control of our desires and passions to have self-control. Righteously and godly is how we are to treat others and God. We treat people respectfully with love and compassion and mercy. Righteously refers to the proper performance of our duties to our fellowman. We perform our duties with fidelity, according to all our relations in life; to all our promises to the poor, the needy, the ignorant, the oppressed, to all who are set before us who need our kindness and compassion. offices. Living righteously would lead us to act as we would wish that they would towards us.
Godly is living piously. Piously is to be dutiful, faithful, true to God and all that He requires it is the faithful performance of our duties to God.
So, we understand that while we are looking for our Blessed Hope, the return of Jesus to gather His people unto Himself, the Rapture that in the Meantime we must intentionally live fulfilling 3 purposes: - 1) our duty to ourselves which is the word “soberly” self-control over our evil desires and passions. 2) righteously which is our duty to our fellowman in all the relations we encounter in life, rather rich or poor, popular or unpopular and 3) Godly our duty to God, which is regarded as a pious life, being faithful, dutiful, merciful, and true.
The 3) thing we need to understand from our focus passage is our need to remain in communication with God through prayer - watch unto prayer. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Watch unto prayer does not mean that we are to be always in frame to pray, but that actual prayers should be always on our lips; every incident in life should suggest them because the end of all things is near that should make us serious and prayerful. The disciples asked Jesus “Teach us to pray as John taught his disciples”. They understood the importance and the power of prayer and wanted to learn how to do it correctly. They realized that when you pray you invite heaven’s resources to intervene in your earthly situation. Since heaven’s resources are unlimited, then you are inviting the omnipotent God into the equation and asking him to fix or do something on your behalf like give me strength to endure in the meantime while I am Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Looking for is not walking around always with our head toward the sky but it is that earnest expectation, to be eagerly and excitingly waiting for. That blessed hope is not heaven or glory as so many people believe but that Hope is Jesus Himself, face to face, closer than ever. I like how one song writer put it “When I see Jesus Amen”.
CLOSING: - So, while we are looking for the end time, the return of Jesus, we must be intentional in how we live in the meantime. We must live, giving ourselves to prayer and as we see the weight of eternity rushing towards us, as we see the world falling farther and farther away from God and all that is Holy we must not take the need for prayer lightly. We must give ourselves to watchful prayer, having our hearts and minds watching and ready for the return of Jesus Christ. This means watching ourselves and watching this world, measuring our readiness for Jesus is coming.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
