EPISODE 41 / THE END OF THE WORLD

The speaker discusses the fear and anticipation surrounding events like the eclipse and compares it to the Y2K scare. They emphasize that while we should not live in fear, we should also not dismiss the possibility of bad things happening. They mention various historical predictions of the end of the world and caution against living on either extreme of fear or denial. They encourage trusting in God, being prepared for tough times, and continuing to fulfill our responsibilities as believers. Ultimately, they remind listeners that trouble is inevitable, but we can take heart in knowing that Jesus has overcome the world. Well, if you're hearing this, you probably made it through the eclipse. Seems like everybody's kind of going crazy right now. There are towns that have put the National Guard on alert and getting ready for just the apocalypse to occur because of this eclipse. Here's the thing about things like this. In my life, I kind of go back to Y2K. We were told that when Y2K came along that our cars were going to stop working, that electricity would be gone, that the whole world was pretty much going to grind to a halt. And then that New Year's Eve, we passed and everything kind of continued the same. I wrote an article back then about both sides of the coin. There were people back at the dawn of Y2K, the year 2000, that were just living in fear, absolutely thought the world was going to come to an end. On the other end of the spectrum, you had people saying, oh no, nothing's going to happen. Nothing's going to go wrong. And the truth is, we shouldn't live by fear. We should not. God's Word tells us about fear. In Isaiah 41.10, it says, Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Philippians 4, 6 and 7, don't be anxious about anything. Don't worry about anything. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Psalm 56.3, When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. And 2 Timothy 1.7 says, For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control. So we shouldn't be afraid. But on the other end of the Y2K thing, and I guess stuff like this coming up today, is that things can go south. Things can get sideways. We're told in God's Word, Romans 8.35-39 tells us that, Who will separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it's written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Here's the thing. We're going to have tough times. It really bothered me during Y2K that some people just laughed at it and scoffed at it like we're so proud and we're so smart and we've got everything under control that nothing bad is going to happen. And my friends, I want you to know, I think both ends of that spectrum are dangerous places to live. We should not live in fear. God really hasn't given His children a spirit of fear, but of love and power and self-control. So we shouldn't be fearful, but we shouldn't be realistic. We shouldn't think that we live in some sort of bubble, that bad things aren't going to happen to good people, and a lot of people do that. There's a lot of people that have predicted gloom and doom. I started looking into this and, my word, I was overwhelmed at the literally thousands of apocalyptic, end-time, doomsday predictions that go all the way back to the first century. There's really just too many to count. Back in the day, Charles Taze Russell and Jehovah's Witnesses, they just continually come out with some scenario, and kept moving the goalposts. Their doctrine, their theology, was built on fear, and that the world was going to come to an end. Jim Jones, he predicted the People's Temple, the Guyana tragedy, Jonestown. He predicted a nuclear holocaust in 1967. Charles Manson said there was going to be this cataclysmic race war in 1969. Pat Robertson predicted the end of the world, Jesus coming in 1982. Leland Jensen in 1986, as Halley's Comet was coming, he said Halley's Comet was going to bring about the end of the world. Hal Lindsey looked at Israel being founded in 1948, and he looked at the biblical generations, and he said 1948 plus 40, Christ is going to return in 1988. Edgar C. Wisenhunt wrote the famous book, 88 Reasons that Christ is Going to Come Back in 88. Well, Jesus didn't come back, so the next year he put out another edition, 89 Reasons that Christ would return in 89. Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, he said that the Gulf War was going to be Armageddon. And I'll be honest with you, there are so many predictions of Armageddon, of doomsday, of the end of the world, that I really got tired of even looking at it. Here's the thing. We as God's children, we cannot live our lives in fear. We have too much at stake. We have too large of a responsibility as salt and as light and ambassadors of Christ in this world. But, my friends, we can't live on that other edge where we think that bad things aren't going to happen, that the world one day actually is going to come to a conclusion that Christ is going to return. There is an Armageddon, and I want you to know that as the Great Tribulation winds up, there's going to be bad things happen in this world. We just have to make sure that we're in Christ. We have to make sure that we are walking with him. We can't live in fear. It is one of the most unchrist-like traits that a lot of believers have. And I speak from experience, and I speak from expertise. I was raised to be scared of my shadow, and I've had to learn the hard way through life not to be scared of my shadow and what's around the next corner and what the next day holds. And I've had to work in my life to realize that, look, this world is coming to a close. The world will end. So I believe that you and I as children of God, we have to trust him, and we have to keep on being who we have been called to be. We have to keep on loving people. We have a mandate in Matthew 28 to share the gospel in Acts. We are compelled to share the gospel right here in our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world. We can't go and live on either one of these fringes. We cannot live out there with the crazy people who fear everything, and we cannot live in such a way that we think that everything eventually is not going to end, because it is. There's going to be hard times. That's what the scripture in Romans 8 we just read says. There's going to be tribulation. There's going to be distress. There's going to be persecution. There's going to be famine. There's going to be nakedness. There's going to be danger. There's going to be sword. There's going to be wars. There's going to be Russia and Ukraine. There's going to be China going into Taiwan. These things are just part of living. We have to not listen to the crazies on both ends. We have to walk with Christ. We have to trust Him. Listen, John 16, 33, I have said these things to you that in me you might have peace. Now listen to what we're told. In the world you will have tribulation. Not we might have tribulation, we might have trouble. We are given an ironclad guarantee by Christ in His word that we are going to have trouble. But He says this, but take heart. I've overcome the world. If we really believe what we say we believe, we know that we're going to have tribulation. But we should take heart. We should listen to the words and know that He has overcome the world. Again, if we really believe what we say we believe and Jesus has defeated death, hell and the grave, that He has taken on death, He has kicked that door down. If we really believe what scripture says that He is the firstborn of the resurrection, that means He's kicked that door down and now through His blood we will walk through that door also just as He did. If we really believe that, we should never live in fear. We should live in boldness and we should be more than conquerors. On the other end, we should know that trouble is coming. My friend, I pray that this week, I pray that the comet does not end all, but yes it could. Y2K came and went, no big deal. But one day something is going to come on the horizon and it's not going to go away. Someday these things are going to come to pass and we have to know that we're in Christ and we have to know our place in Him and trust Him, not just in the good times, but when persecution comes, when hard times come, when tribulation comes. So I pray that we make it through the thing and the eclipse, the apocalypse, whatever it is. But if not, hey, I'll see you on the other side. Let me pray for you. Father God, we thank You, Lord, for this day. God, we thank You for Your Word that Lord encourages us and emboldens us to walk with You, to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus and trust You in anything. God help us not to fear. God help us look at the signs and know what season it is. When the fig tree is in bloom, we know that the harvest is coming. And Lord, we can look at the signs and we can look at the prophecy and know that Lord, Your Word is coming to pass. Lord, help us to be salt and light, to love people and to share Christ. Lord, to not be tolerant of the filth of this world, but be light in this darkness. God, I pray for my friends that You'll just keep them safe this week. God, give us ministry this week. Help us to, Lord, to love people and to share the gospel when You give us the chance. Lord, we ask these things in the name of Jesus, amen.