The End…Is At Hand
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer (1Peter 4:7).
WE ARE FOLLOWING THE SHORT BOOK by the Apostle Peter. Three great proofs of the accuracy of the Bible are 1. The Bible account of the creation of the earth is accurate and is being affirmed (layer after layer); 2. Prophecies were written long before their fulfillment. 3. The Bible’s account of world history has at times stood alone until research catches up and the Bible is always confirmed. Peter says “the end of all things is at hand.” He employs the principle of imminence. At any time. It could happen right away, or it could be a little later; Imminent.
I HAVE REFERRED SEVERAL TIMES TO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS in Washington. It is the largest library in the world in both shelf space and number of books (over 34-million books). The Bible is one of the books in this library and it is the only book that can predict the future. The Apostle Peter says there is coming an end to the earth and its system as we now know it. Everybody is not happy about that and this kind of thing is one of the reasons why there is such a put-down against the Bible.
SOMEDAY, THE CEMETERIES OF THE WORLD MAY LOOK LIKE PLOWED FIELDS because a series of resurrections of dead human bodies is going to take place. Some people believe the Lord may just raise the dead through the ground without disturbing it.
Could be. When Jesus was raised from the dead, he came through his grave clothes that were left undisturbed. The gravestone was moved aside. Some think the gravestone was moved so Jesus could get out of the tomb. Others of us believe He could have come through the stone even as he came through the wall and appeared to His disciples after He arose from the dead. In that case, the stone was removed to let others see into the tomb, that He was gone.
IN OUR MAD CULTURE THAT HAS COME UNGLUED, there is a horrific revulsion against the idea that there will be an end of…anything. Our centers of learning boast that we have been improving since the first frog made it out of the slime. But a funny thing happened on the way to utopia. Einstein forced the mad scientists of his day to acknowledge that the universe has not always existed. The universe was not static but moving from another state. (Is Einstein getting too much credit?)
EINSTEIN HAD BENT HIS OWN THEORY OF RELATIVITY TO ACCOMMODATE the dogma of the day. But he was driven to change his position through his math formulas in conjunction with a discovery at the Mt. Wilson Observatory in California. By 1931, the Big Bang explanation of the universe was born. You may want to Google “Einstein and the Big Bang Theory” and see what you come up with.
THERE WAS NO EXPLANATION FOR WHAT CAUSED IT. The Big Bang presented another problem. From the time of the Big Bang, the stars of the universe have been moving outward and the universe has been in a state of progressive entropy, or running down from a higher state of existence and there are many ways this is being scientifically measured. If there was a “big bang,” it would have taken awesome power to pull the universe apart. It could not come apart all by itself. If you want to grapple with this, you can have yourself a life-time Rubik’s Cube.
THE OBSERVABLE ENTROPY OF THE UNIVERSE, IN REVERSE, means that the universe suddenly came into being. Did it come about of its own accord or was it by the unthinkable— “Oh Gasp!”—hand of God? The entropy of the universe requires that at some time, unless God intervenes, the universe will give up the ghost and cease to exist; not in our lifetime, of course.
THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND: meaning “at any time.” Imminent. We are told that the coming of Jesus back to earth to take out his saints could be at any time:
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words (1Thessalonians 4:16-18).
THIS DAY DOES NOT WANT TO HEAR THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE. People today, as in the day of Isaiah, want preachers to preach smooth things. “Make us feel good and positive in our rebellion against God.” Many Christians today are so beat down by work and family and things going against them that they simply do not want to hear anything but smooth things, sweet things. But we are told to “look up!” (Luke.21:28).
We’ve had enough tornados to do us a while. Tornados wait for no man. And the coming of the Lord will wait for no man. He tells us in our verse for today: “be sober and watch in prayer.” Those are good words; encouraging words. We can get things in prayer that we can get no place else. How is it with you? Do you want nothing but smooth things from the Lord? I don’t like what I see coming but it’s coming. I’m comforted by knowing we are in His outstretched hand and He will never leave us or forsake us.
…this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: (Isaiah 30:9-10).
Digging Deeper
God is in charge. He has a plan and a calendar and a clock and at His appointed time he will bring this world into judgment.
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (2Thessalonians 1:7-8).
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (2Thessalonians 1:9-10). Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 16, 2018 – FRIDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 28 P.M Mark 15:1-26
March 17, 2018 – SATURDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 29-30 P.M. Mark 16
March 18, 2019 – SUNDAY
A.M. Deuteronomy 31-32 P.M. Luke 1:1-23
Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verses to Memorize:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Song for Today:
There is a Fountain (4:39) (Vestal Goodman and the Gaither Group.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PasK3ZFAOPE
I notice that singing groups are not tempted to gyrate and circus when they sing this. It’s not a carnival song. I use it often, partly because I never get tired of it and partly because the need for it is never exhausted.
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Beginning this Friday, the week-end Morning Minute will be discontinued. The daily Bible readings for Saturday and Sunday will be posted on Fridays and again on the following Monday.
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