As we know, we are at the very end of the world, and this is what I would like to look at today. We are living in that end-time situation. We are right there. Judgment Day is only a few months away.
When we begin to contemplate this, we realize that it is a very awesome thing that we are living in that time and that the end of the world is at hand. It is right here.
If there was ever a time when we ought to be looking inward, it is now. We ought not to be pointing a finger at someone else. The finger ought to be pointed at me. Am I ready to meet God? Are you ready to meet God? This is a very important question.
According to God’s Word, we know that He is “no respecter of persons.” God can save anyone. No matter how deep you are in your sin or how rebellious you might be, the grace of God is beyond human comprehension. God can save anyone. As we read the Bible, we see that He will save a harlot; He will save this person and that person.
Some of us who are saved and here today were in deep sin and we would want no one to know the sins that we have committed; but God, in His mercy, has forgiven us if we are a child of God. How wonderful this is and how wonderful it is that the grace of God is still available today.
Now, at this time, God has let us know what He is about to do. This is only due to God’s mercy. It is only because of His mercy that He has done this. He did not have to do this. He could let this world go right up to May 21, 2011, Judgment Day, just like that. He could have done that. However, God in His infinite wisdom and mercy has let us know what He is about to do and He has done this through the Bible.
Let us look at Genesis 18. Before God brought judgment, God always let His people know what He was about to do. This is how He operates. Look at Genesis 18:17. He is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham was a saved man and God let him know what He was about to do. We read in Genesis 18:17:
And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Of course, we know that He did not.
Then we read in Genesis 18:18:
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Now go to verse 20 of the same chapter. We read in Genesis 18:20-21:
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
God was about to bring judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah and He let Abraham know what He was about to do. As it is in our day when God is about to end the world, we can expect that He would do the same thing and let His people know what He is about to do.
Then we read in Genesis 18:22:
And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before JEHOVAH.
As we read on, we will see Abraham pleading for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. We of course know that God finally destroyed them; however, my point is that God let Abraham know what He was about to do, which was to bring judgment.
This is as it is in our day. It is because of God’s mercy that He is letting the world know through His people what He is about to do, which He has revealed to us from the pages of the Bible. This is not a random date that we picked out of the sky. God has laid out all of this information pertaining to the end of the world and it is coming from God’s Word, the Bible. We could expect that God would let His people know when He was about to bring judgment, because this is how He operates.
Turn over to Amos 3. We read in Amos 3:6:
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city…
What trumpet is this? We are the true believers and we are trumpeting this information throughout the world: over the Internet, through tracts, through radio. We are telling them that Judgment Day is coming. How can we sit still knowing that this information is coming from the Bible? How could we not warn the world?
So what would we want to do first when it comes to warning the world of this? First, we would want to tell this to our family members.
Let us turn back over to Genesis. I forgot to bring this point up when we were there. When God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He went to Lot. What was the first thing that Lot did?
Here we are today and we know this information from the Bible. Judgment Day will be May 21, 2011. One of the first things that we want to do is to tell our family members. A true believer will do this. We will want to tell our immediate friends and loved ones, “Judgment Day is almost here.”
Remember that Lot went to his sons-in-law. Turn to Genesis 19. Some of the first people whom we want to go to are our family members, our loved ones, those who are close to us. We read in Genesis 19:14:
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law…
He went to his sons-in-law:
…which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked…
They laughed at him!
How many of us have experienced this? You tell your mom, you tell your dad, you tell your children, and they will not listen to you. They will not take it seriously and they will laugh.
Lot’s sons-in-law laughed but, lo and behold, it was true! They got destroyed in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, along with everyone who was there, because they did not listen to this warning from God.
How many are not listening today? They are not listening to this information that is coming from the Bible. They think, “Oh, this is not going to happen!” Whatever excuse that they give just proves that they are not listening to this information from the Bible, but this is so. This is going to happen.
Returning to Amos 3:6, knowing this information as true believers, we are going to sound the alarm. We are going to sound this warning. In Amos 3:6-8, it says:
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared…
We watch those nature programs and we see the lion chasing the impala. The lion is a very fearsome animal in the jungle. All the other animals tremble at the roar of the lion, and here God is a lion who has roared. He is sounding the warning that Judgment Day is almost here. Will you not pay attention to this? Are you just going to keep on doing your own thing and pay no attention to this warning that is coming from the Bible? How foolish you will be if you do not listen to what the Bible has to say.
So it says in Amos 3:8-9:
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy? Publish in the palaces at Ashdod…
We can see from verse 9 that a true believer is going to publish this. By God’s grace, we are going to make this known as He gives us the means to do so.
Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
So we are going to publish this information as far and as wide as the Lord Jesus would have us do so because this is to be known by man. “The lion hath roared,” Judgment Day is almost here, and we had better listen to this. We had better listen to what God has to say from the Bible because the Bible is the Word of God.
Whether we believe this or not, Judgment Day has been appointed by God. This day is set and we cannot change it. This day has been appointed by God and we are heading towards it.
Mercifully, wonderfully, He has let us know. This is the mercy of God even though many people do not want to hear this. They do not want to talk about it. They do not want to face up to it. They go into denial. They lock it out. They laugh at you. They mock. However, let it be known that none of this is going to change this fact.
Many people are saying, “Not so, Lord. Not so; this cannot be! I have my full life ahead of me. I have things to do. I have to get married. I have to do this or that.” But, no! God’s will supersedes any and all of that. Nothing is going to change the fact that we are at the end of the world and we ought to face up to this. Face up to it! We are right here at the end.
Maybe a lot of people think that they are just having a bad dream and that this just cannot be. We are all a part of this world but there are those who love this world too much—the homes, the niceties, the toys, the cars—but all of these things are vanity. What are you going to do with them? Come May 21st in 2011, these things will be useless. On that day, these things are going to be the last thing on your mind.
On that day, do you think that you are going to be thinking about your bank account or whatever it might be that you have? No. The things in this life are not important. They are not important. If you were to die today or tomorrow, you could take none of it with you.
How much of this world’s goods can you take with you? How much are you going to take with you when you die? Nothing. Nothing. Your body is going to go down into the ground, you are going to be buried, and then you are going to rot.
These things do not mean a thing. The important thing is salvation. It makes no difference what your status in life is or where you are from. All of this means nothing. If you are not a child of God, you are in deep and terrible trouble with God. You are headed for destruction on that day of judgment.
Many people are afraid of this and do not want to deal with it. There is a reason for this. Deep in their hearts, they know that they are not ready. However, wonderfully, there is still time. There is still time for us to respond as the people of Nineveh did who cried mightily to God. It may be that God might have mercy upon you, but how foolish it is if you do not listen to God’s Word, the Bible.
Let us look at Ezekiel 33, which is a familiar passage. God tells us in the Bible that we are now looking at the closeness of the end of the world. We are right there. If you are a true believer, this is the way that you are to be living your whole life if you say that you are a child of God. As true believers, we see the sword coming. This sword is for killing. The Bible is known as the “sword of the Spirit.” We see Judgment Day coming, and it says in Ezekiel 33:3-5:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth…
We know that the only way that we are going to hear this is if God gives us ears to hear.
It continues:
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Then God goes on.
As true believers, we are watchmen. We are going to sound the alarm because we know what God is about to do. God lets His people know, just as Abraham knew, as well as these other events that we read about in the Old Testament. They knew because God let them know what He was about to do.
God did not hide what He was about to do from Abraham, did He? No, God spelled out to him that Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be overthrown. He let Jonah know what He was about to do to Nineveh, did He not? Wonderfully, in God’s mercy, He spared the city of Nineveh.
These are huge examples for us who are alive today. It is as if we are living in the days of Nineveh when the trumpet was blown. The trumpet is blown. In 18 months and a couple of weeks, Judgment Day is going to be here. What are you doing with your time? Think about this. This is a little over 18 months away. This can be broken down into weeks and days and hours. What are you doing with the time remaining? Are you just wasting it? We are not talking about 1800 years or 18 years. We are talking about 18 months. This is really not a long time. There is not a long time remaining in this life: 18 months and Judgment Day will be here, 18 short months.
This year is almost done. It is almost complete. Then we have 12 months left to next year. In reality, we have two Christmases left, this one and another one, just two more. Before you know it, this time next year will be here and we will be looking at another Thanksgiving holiday and another Christmas. Then we will be at the end of 2010 and we will start into January of 2011. We will have January, February, March, April, and then May.
At this time next year, we will only have November, December, January, February, March, April, and then May. So next year at this time, we will only have seven months left, seven months left to go, and then we will be looking at Judgment Day. This is not a lot of time. If ever there was a time when we ought to be beseeching God for His mercy, it is today.
There are those who may not know any other verse in the Bible who take great comfort in the verse that says that no one knows the day or the hour. There are many who take great comfort in this verse and who hide behind it. They comfort themselves with this verse, “No one knows the day or hour.” This is their response to you and then they turn around and walk away. They have taken great comfort in this verse. They believe that no one can know, so they go away and just continue on with their lives.
God, however, warns us. He lets us know what the people of Noah’s day were doing. In Luke 17, He lets us know how the people were living right before the flood. The people of our day are doing the same thing, the very same thing. In Luke 17, God also tells us what was going on in the days of Lot. God tells us in Luke 17:26-27:
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat…
This is what they were doing right before the flood. God is telling us what they were doing:
They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
They went right up until that moment; they went right up until that very day. For decades, Noah had declared the Gospel. It went out. This warning got around over the hundred plus years that it took him to build the ark. This word got around. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing. This person told that person and it got around, but they went on with their daily routine as it says here. They were marrying and it was just business as usual.
What are the people of our world doing today? They are building skyscrapers. People are going to college. They are continuing on in doing their own thing, just like the people of Noah’s day who did so right up until the very moment that the flood came. They did not listen and then the flood came and destroyed them all.
Then it says in Luke 17:28:
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot…
This is referring to the days of Lot that we read about in Genesis.
…they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
It was the same thing. This was the same thing that they did in Noah’s day and this was what they did right before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
What are people doing today? We are doing the same thing, and God said that it would be this way. However, this time, it is the end of the world.
Then we read in Luke 17:29-32:
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
It is going to be the same thing.
In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife.
It is just going to be a repeat of the same thing. They were doing the same thing in the days of Lot, the same thing in the days of Noah, and the same thing is going to be going on in our day. People are not listening to the Bible. They are concerned with planning their future, all of these things, and they will continue doing so right up until that moment on May 21st when the earthquake hits.
At that point, mankind will know that Judgment Day has come. It will be too late to cry for mercy. The day of salvation will be over. All of the true believers will have been taken out of this world. All who remain will just be the unsaved. The “light of the candle,” the Gospel, will have been put out. The day of mercy will have come to an end. All of the true believers will have been caught up to be with Christ in their new spiritual bodies. All who will be left will just be the unsaved. This is a sobering fact.
If this does not get your attention, what will? What will get your attention? It is no longer business as usual. The bright future that you might have planned for yourself is not going to happen. But then, what are you missing?
You are not missing anything. If you never have a chance to get married, or whatever, you are not missing anything. If you are a child of God, you have everything. You are going to be an inheritor of the new heaven and the new earth, and this is about to happen shortly. Which do you really prefer?
We look at this world and we see that sin is multiplying. It causes us to wonder why God has put up with us for so long. However, we know that He has created the world to last a little over 13,000 years. We know that His perfect will is going to be done. He is saving a people for Himself. After He is done, He destroys it. He will destroy it.
This is the time when we ought to really, really, really be looking at ourselves. We really need to ask ourselves, “Am I ready to meet God?” It does not matter if you are a child or if you are middle-aged or if you are an older person. The end of the world is here. If you want to argue, argue with the Bible. However, I would not do that because what God says is going to happen.
This information has no impact on some people’s lives, none. They hear it, but it goes in one ear and out the next. It goes right over their heads. They are not listening to this.
Has this information impacted your life? Has this made a change in your life? This is the question that we all have to ask ourselves. Has this warning, this information coming from the Bible, has this impacted your life in such a way to where you are examining yourself, you are crying out to God for mercy, you are trembling before God and pleading with Him for His mercy? Or has this not affected you at all? Are you that caught up with your life or your friends or your plans or anything else? What is it? What could be more important than this?
If this does not get your attention, nothing will. We are right at the end of the world and we should be listening to the Bible, listening to God speaking to us, because it is God who is giving us this information from the pages of the Bible. He is not going to hide this information from His people. He has let us know in these days what He is about to do. I say this again: it is the sheer mercy of God as to why He has done this. It is because God is merciful.
People say, “Oh, why do you want to scare people like this?” However, come May 21st, people are going to be frightened right out of their skin. If you are not saved, you are going to be scared to death because Judgment Day is here!
Let us look at Hebrews 2 because there are those who are not taking this information that is coming from the Bible seriously. I cannot make you take this seriously. I cannot even make you listen to this. But here in Hebrews 2:1-3, God warns:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed…
We have this information. God has made it known what He is about to do and He is telling us:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard…
What are we hearing in these days? We are hearing that the day of judgment is almost here, “the end of all things is at hand,” and it is going to be May 21 in 2011. We are hearing this and God is telling us that we are to give this “the more earnest heed.” We ought to listen to what God is telling us, to “the things which we have heard”:
…lest at any time we should let them slip.
Then it goes on to say:
For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape…
Escape what? The day of judgment. How shall we escape the day of judgment? The only way that we can escape this is if “God is our refuge,” our “hiding place,” our “shield.” As you go through the book of Psalms, you will see that God uses these terms. These are the terms that God uses to indicate that this is the only way that we are going to be able to escape Judgment Day. This is the big issue.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
How else are we going to be able to escape this? God has given us “many infallible proofs” that these things are going to happen. This is going to happen!
This word that is translated as “earnest” in Hebrews 2:1 is also found in Mark 15. Christ was on trial and they were about to crucify Him. In Mark 15:12-14, we read:
And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
The word that was translated “earnest” in Hebrews 2:1 is translated as “the more exceedingly” here in Mark 15:14. We are to look at God’s Word and take it very seriously.
Then we read in Mark 15:15:
And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
So this word “exceedingly” is the same word as “earnest.” God uses it another way in 1 Thessalonians 2:17:
But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
Exceedingly/earnest is this word that has been translated “more abundantly.” We are to have an abundant concern and listen very earnestly to what God is saying to us. We are to give “the more earnest heed” to what God is telling us. We are to listen to what He is saying because it is God who is speaking to us from the pages of the Bible.
You have to listen very carefully because these things are serious and they are going to affect you. It makes no difference how old you are or whatever. Judgment Day is going to affect you, one way or the other. You are to give “the more earnest heed” to what God is telling you because this information has not been conjured up from someone’s mind. This is God’s Word, the Bible, as if God is standing in front of you and talking to you face-to-face. You ought to listen to what He has to say because “the lion hath roared” and Judgment Day is almost here.
Returning to Hebrews 2:3, we read:
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…
This word “neglect” is used in Matthew 22 [note: speaker inadvertently said “escape” instead of “neglect”]. This word is used in Matthew 22 and it is translated as those who are making light of God’s Word. It says in Matthew 22:5:
But they made light of it…
The phrase “made light of” is the same word that is translated as “neglect” in Hebrews 2:3 [note: speaker inadvertently said “escape” instead of “neglect”].
There are those who are making light of this information from the Bible concerning the end of the world and Judgment Day. You go out to hand out tracts and you get mocked, you get laughed at, people fuss at you, and so forth. They are making light of this information.
Let us read the whole verse. Matthew 22:5 says:
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
People hear this information, they make fun of it, and they are not taking this seriously. What do they do? They go back to their daily lives, their daily routines, as if they never heard a thing. They just go back to their lives. They hear the warning of Judgment Day and there are many who are making light of this, “Oh, you cannot know the day or the hour. You are crazy!”
We hear these types of callers on the “Open Forum.” They want to argue and argue and argue the Bible. They want to argue the Scriptures instead of listening to the Bible and being as the Bereans of old who “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Instead of doing this, they just shrug this off.
So we have these mockers. We have those who are mocking this information. They are mocking the Bible and paying no attention to this. I hope that none of us are doing this. I hope that none of us are making light of this information that is coming from the Bible. You should not be doing this. If you are, you need to stop what you are doing and listen to the Bible.
Let us return to Hebrews 2:3:
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…
God’s salvation is great. When we read the Bible and we see what Christ had to do to save a people for Himself, it boggles the human mind that God would go through all of this trouble to save a rebellious people as we are by nature.
We know that God can save anyone: a child in the womb, a two-year-old, a three-year-old, a ten-year-old, a teenager, someone who is twenty years old, no matter what your age. Can God hear the prayer of a child? Of course He can! It has nothing to do with how fancy your prayer is or the words that you are saying, because God looks at the heart of the person.
If you know that you are not saved, if you are troubled, if you are frightened of Judgment Day, what should you be doing? You should be crying out to God as the Ninevites did. We know that God is a merciful, merciful God, so this ought to be your priority. The number one priority in life ought to be your relationship with God because you know that you are headed for this rendezvous with God on May 21st in 2011.
It is coming. Each day, each week, each month goes by. That date is getting closer and closer and closer. You cannot relive last week. It is gone. That time is gone forever and you cannot go back. But as of today, you can thank God that you are still living, that the blood is warm in your veins, that God is still saving people, and that maybe He might save you, too.
We want to make this the number one priority in our lives if we are not doing so. Life should not be fun and games. This is serious information that God is giving us. He has let us know what He is about to do.
What are you doing with this information? God speaks of those who “shall be beaten with many stripes.” You know this information. It is not as if you never heard this, so I think that your punishment is going to be way worse than those who have never heard this even though they are “worthy of stripes.” You know this information.
We know the very year and the very day of Judgment Day. Wow! We may not know the hour on May 21, 2011, but this is a lot of information and it should scare you right out of your skin.
This God who is infinite in His wisdom has the ability to bring this world to an end. He created it and He can bring it to an end. He is not bluffing us. He is telling us the truth. He is about to return on May 21, 2011. Time is of the essence and we should never make light of this information. We should never shrug this off. This is going to happen. The proofs are there. He did not give us one proof. He gave us several proofs to show us that this information is so.
Let us look at 2 Peter 3 where God goes on to give us some information. The day of the Lord will come. This is a given.
When we listen to unsaved man speak, he consistently talks about the end, the coming doomsday and destruction. Unsaved man knows this. He knows because of the way that God has designed him. He knows that there is an end coming to this planet and this universe. He knows this. We hear it in the worldly songs, in the way that he talks. They know that this world is going to end. They may not believe the Bible or care about what the Bible says, but mankind knows that there is an end coming.
Even if the Lord would tarry for another hundred years, not one of us would be living. There are always exceptions and some people live to be 100 or 103 or so. However, if the Lord would tarry maybe even another 50-60 years, all of us in this room right now would be dead, every single one of us.
I am not old, but I am getting there. Lord willing, this month I will be 49 years old and I do not think that this world will be here for me to see 51. If the Lord would tarry, I would not see another 50-60 years. Time is of the essence and it does not make a difference how old you are today. Time is running out.
So we read in 2 Peter 3:1-9:
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers…
We all know that there are scoffers out there who are making a mockery of this information. They are just laughing at this, “Come May 22nd, I will still be here.” We hear them and they are just scoffing at this information. They make light of it. They do not listen to you. They do whatever. They just do not want to be reminded of this. They are just scoffing at the Bible and:
…walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of…
Mankind, unsaved man, he is ignorant because this is what the Bible calls him. He is ignorant:
…that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Then we read in 2 Peter 3:10:
But the day of the Lord will come…
This will be May 21, 2011 when the day of judgment will begin.
But the day of the Lord will come…
You cannot change this. You cannot wish this away. You cannot hope that this will not happen. There are many who are hoping that this will not happen. They are working overtime to try to prove that this information is not so. They would give their right arm for this information to not be correct. However, we know that this is not incorrect because God has given us “many infallible proofs” that these things are going to happen.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…
He is coming “as a thief in the night” for those who are not ready to meet Him.
It continues:
…in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat…
This information that we are reading in 2 Peter 3:10 is what will happen on October 21, 2011. It says:
…the heavens shall pass away…
During that five-month period, the earth is still going along. People will still be here suffering through the most horrible punishment.
It goes on to say:
…and the elements shall melt with fervent heat…
This is what will happen on October 21, 2011. All of the elements and whatever God uses to uphold the universe and whatever is out there, it is all going to melt. God is going to burn it up.
…the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Everything that you own, whatever you have on that day, on October 21, 2011, is going to be burned up.
Then God says in 2 Peter 3:11:
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved…
We know that these things are going to be burned up, so:
…what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
We need to make sure that we are born again.
Then we read in 2 Peter 3:12-14:
Looking for…
Where do we look? We look in the Bible.
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God…
This is May 21, 2011. That is “the day of God” when Judgment Day begins.
…wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved…
Do you see how God is driving home that these things are going to be dissolved?
…and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we…
This is referring to the true believers. We:
…according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace…
In other words, make sure that the peace of God is upon you and that you are a child of God:
…without spot…
We are “without spot” when our sins have been forgiven, when God has given us eternal life:
…and blameless.
We become “blameless” before God when our sins are paid for. We are “without spot.” We are “without blemish.”
This is the great hope of those who are truly children of God. We are going to be the inheritors of the new heaven and the new earth when the Lord Jesus returns. However, “the day is at hand.” He has let us know what He is about to do. He is about to return and we had better listen to what He has to say because time is of the essence. Time is running out.
What is your priority? Remember that God tells us in Matthew 6, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God.” We are not to seek the creature comforts of this life. God did not say that. Our whole attention as we live out our lives in this world ought to be to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” because we do not have any righteousness of our own.
Do you see what we are to be spending our time doing? We are to be seeking the Kingdom of God. God has a lot more to say about this, but this is where our priority ought to be because Judgment Day is fast approaching.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You O Lord that You have let us know what You are about to do. It is only because of Thy mercy that You have let us know this. O Father, have us to look at ourselves honestly. We know, O Lord, according to Your Word, if there is anyone who might not be saved, they can still beseech Thee for mercy. It might be that You might forgive them of their sins and save them. We pray that You will work in us, O Lord, that You will quicken us according to Thy Word. We pray for our children and for our family members who are not saved. O Lord, how we desire their salvation! But, O Lord, we pray that Thy perfect will be done in all things. Dear Lord, we thank You for this time together around Thy Word. We pray as we go home that You may give us traveling mercies. This coming week, O Lord, may we spend time reading Thy Word, reading Thy Word, reading Thy Word, and just listening to what You say. O Lord, could it be that You will have mercy upon us as we study and seek to do Thy will. We pray, O Lord, as we share the Gospel with whomever You put in our path that You might have mercy upon them, and may You have us not to become weary in well-doing. O Lord, we thank You for Thy mercy. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
(There was no question/answer session pertaining to this study.)