By Pastor Rob Pue
November 12, 2023
There’s a lot of fear mongering going on these days. A great deal of speculation, with people wondering what will happen next. Many believe the Lord’s return is imminent and many expect Him at any moment. Certainly, Scripture tells us of the signs of the Last Days and the End Times, things to watch for as indicators of His soon return.
In Revelation 22, we’re given a glimpse of what the New Jerusalem will be like… what heaven will be like… a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, one for every month, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations. There will be no more curse. We will see His face. There will be no night there, and those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will reign forever and ever.
Three times in Revelation 22, Jesus states to John the apostle that He will come quickly. In verse 7: “Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” In verse 12, “And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” And in Verse 20, “He which testifieth these things saith, ‘Surely I come quickly. Amen.’ Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
We also see in this chapter that those who do His commandments have the right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates, into the city. And we see God’s final justice fulfilled, the enemies of God are cast out, as we read in verse 15, “For without are dogs, and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” This sounds very much like our current Globalist, New-World-Order, One-World-Government leaders, doesn’t it?
We also see, in this last book of the Bible, a standing invitation, that still remains, right ‘til the end. Verse 17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let him that heareth say, ‘Come,’ and let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
God’s gift of eternal life is available to all who will come, in humble repentance and faith. But those who refuse will receive the punishment they have earned and all that’s wrong now will be set right. What a wonderful hope we have in our eternal Creator, our Heavenly Father, and the promises He’s given us for our future. And the justice we seek for all the evil ones will finally be handed down, receiving the due penalty for their sins.
We look forward to that day when true Christ-followers are invited to enter His gates, and receive His everlasting life and protection, in a place so beautiful and perfect we can’t even imagine it with our finite human minds.
Many long for that day to come soon. Many are now predicting that the world can’t possibly get any worse, evil men and women in power in this world can’t possibly become more depraved. Surely Christ’s return is at hand. We see the wars and rumors of wars, we see the earth and the heavens shaking, along with great persecution of those who proclaim God’s Word and truth. But some things never change; and there is nothing new under the sun. All these things have happened before.
The book of Revelation was written by John in about the year 80 AD. Here we are now, in 2023 AD and all down through the centuries, people have waited with eager anticipation for Christ’s return. I remember in the 1970s, reading the book “The Late, Great Planet Earth” and many more books related to Bible prophecy after that. In the 1990s, we had the “Left Behind” series of books, which were again very popular. And all throughout my lifetime, people have been looking for that glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That’s just my lifetime — people have been watching, praying, and waiting for His return since the moment He ascended into heaven.
All who’ve set specific dates for His return have been proven to be false prophets. Indeed, Scripture tells us that no man knows the day or hour of His return. We can see the signs He told us to watch for, but no one can know the time of His return. If someone says they know, you know they’re a liar and a false prophet.
Notice, Jesus said He will come “quickly.” But “quickly” doesn’t mean “soon.” His return will, indeed, be quick. There will be no time to make your peace with God when You see Him coming on the clouds of heaven. By the time you see that, it will be too late. That will be a day like no other… which is why today is the day of salvation.
His return could be today, tomorrow, or a thousand years from now. Many see the turmoil in Israel and the middle east — and every nation on planet Earth and think, “surely, the time is at hand.” It may very well be. But what if it’s not? What if we’re simply going through another time of darkness, like so many others in the history of the world? What if the evil tyrants of today are no different than the evil tyrants of years gone by — their time will come to an end and life will go on?
What should Christ-followers be doing in days like these? Should we merely be biding our time, waiting for our Lord to return so we can enter His gates and see the wicked punished? Sadly, too many are doing just that. They think the time is so near, they have their “bags packed” for heaven and have abandoned all their earthly duties. Just waiting to be taken out of this world, waiting for eternity in the next.
In Matthew 25, Jesus told the parable of the Ten Virgins as a warning that we should be ready for His return at all times. In the previous chapter, He warned that no one knows the day or hour of His return, not even the angels of heaven, nor Jesus Himself, but only the Father. After the parable of the Ten Virgins, He gave us the parable of the Talents. The one who received five Talents earned five more. The one who received two earned two more. But the one who received only one Talent buried his — did nothing with it — and he was called “wicked” and “slothful,” a “worthless servant,” who was then cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Friends, the people of the world are living in fearful times today. The nations are in turmoil, including, and especially, ours. We have wicked politicians, rampant crime, demented people brainwashing our youth to hate their own country, their own parents, their own family, and to hate God. Lies and deception are everywhere we turn. Our country is being invaded by foreign enemies, led by our own political leaders. The sorcerers are pushing their deadly “pharmakea” on the ignorant masses and it’s killing them. There’s an agenda to confuse and abuse all of us, especially our children, if they’re even allowed to be born in the first place. We have starvation, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, violence and madness in our streets. We can no longer trust our government, our hospitals, our schools, the stores and companies we do business with, or even many of our churches.
Why do you suppose that is? You can’t blame it all on the kings of the earth setting themselves and conspiring together against the Lord and His anointed. (Psalm 2). Yes, that’s certainly happening, but what are you doing about it? Are you “standing firm” for God and His Word? Are you pushing back against the forces of darkness? Are you occupying until He returns? Are you, personally, serving as a restraining influence against evil in these dark days? What are YOU doing? Are you using your talents wisely — investing them for the Kingdom of God — or have you buried the talents you’ve been given, and are just waiting for your “reward?”
If you’re doing nothing, I hate to tell you, but your “reward” may very well involve being cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, because you’ve wasted every opportunity given to you. You’ve buried your “talents.” The missionary Charles Thomas Studd wrote, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.” When Jesus returns, will He find you a good and faithful servant — or a wicked, slothful one?
Regardless of when Christ returns, let me remind you again that today — yes, today — nearly 170,000 people will die. For them, today is the “last day.” Today is the “end times.” That’s nearly 7,000 people every hour, 116 people every minute, nearly 2 people each second. How many of those will be spending eternity apart from God? How many have never heard, or taken seriously, the truths of His Word? How many will die believing the lies of the enemy of their souls?
Recently, one of our readers brought an area of Scripture to my attention and I’d like to share that with you now. Amos 8:11 & 12, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘that I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east. They shall run to and fro, seeking the Word of the Lord, but shall not find it.’”
We live in a time when all things good and Godly are being censored, blocked, re-written and de-platformed. Pastors, in an effort to fill the seats with “tolerance,” “love” and “inclusiveness,” are lying to the people, and given the state of most modern American churches today, I dare say the Lord has written “Ichabod” on their doorposts. The pastors will speak only the soft things, they will prophecy only deceits. Their “wokeness,” “inclusivity” and “tolerance” is “loving” people straight to the gates of hell. Make no mistake, judgment will begin in the house of the Lord. We’ve been seeing that for a while now.
The big news today is the war in Israel, the middle East, Ukraine, and Russia. We have foreign armies on American soil, just waiting for their call to arms when they will attack in full force. Christians are being persecuted and prosecuted. Lies flow out of the mainstream media 24/7 as they broadcast deceptions and delusions. Madness and fear are thriving in the atmosphere.
But those who are true Christ-followers have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. We don’t live under deception, and we don’t believe or serve the lies that are being force-fed into our brainwashed populace. We have the truth. The question is, will we proclaim the truth? Will we not allow any falsehood to go unchallenged? Will we not correct wrong thinking? Will we not protect our children? Will we not be salt and light in a world where there’s a famine of God’s Word in the land?
Or instead, will we simply bury our talents and wait for our reward? “Reward for what?” I ask you. Faith without works is dead. If we don’t hold our ground, and fight to take back the ground the devil has stolen, the deception and oppression will continue and get worse. I’ve even heard some Christians say they want that to happen, because it will bring Christ’s return sooner. What nonsense! What ignorance! What delusion! To think that anything you do — or don’t do — could possibly influence the time of Christ’s return. You may as well believe anything you can do will have an effect on the Earth’s climate. That’s God’s job.
God runs this world — He knows the day, the hour and the minute, when our Savior will return on the clouds of heaven and close out this time span in Earth’s history. Nothing you can do will change or affect that. But as I’ve said so many times, what you do with the “talents” you’ve been given to invest for the Kingdom of God will, indeed, have eternal consequences — for yourself and those you’ve been assigned to reach. Stop living in fear, and stop waiting for someone else to do the work for you. “Someone else” isn’t coming. But Jesus Christ, our Savior, is… and when He does, will He find you faithful — or wicked, lazy and slothful? You only have one lifetime to serve your Lord. How much of it have you wasted so far…and what will it take to spur you to action now? Don’t ask the Lord to order your steps if you’re not willing to move your feet.
© 2023 Rob Pue – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Rob Pue: Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com
