Is it the End of the World?

With many major disasters happening lately, so many Christians are swearing that these are the signs of the times and that Christ is at the door. We warn all our friends and family to repent and be ready because He will be here literally any second...although, this exact thing has been happening for thousands of years. I hope we can be the voice that warns you of a different kind of time we should absolutely be ready.. a time instead, when nothing is happening at all.

Like the five virgins that were ready by keeping their oil lamp burning continually, we all need to be ready everyday. The other five virgins only brought enough oil for a time they were sure He would come, but they didn't have it for a time that they didn't think He would come.

Like the parable of the good servant in Luke 12, He was found ready at the second, third and fourth watch of the night. He was ready.. EVEN at an hour He did not think his master would come.


39And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

No one knows when, but the whole world will be watching (even the wicked servants) during a major disaster.. but no one will be watching when life is normal and goes on like nothing is happening. That is the time that counts.. we must be ready even when we do not think He will come.
Jesus talks about it in Matthew 24 (also Luke 21:9-11)

 6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
 
7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8All these are the beginning of sorrows.


There will be wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences.. even tsunamis, but the end is not yet. These are just the sorrows that this world has to face.

The Bible also tells us that it will be like the days of Noah and Lot when the Son of Man comes. This is very important to understand-


"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, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 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." Luke 17:26-30

During the days of Lot and Noah, everyone was busy with their lives. Life was normal and life went on. They ate, drank, built houses and were given away in marriage... then disaster struck without warning and destroyed them all in one day. God works in a pattern throughout the Bible. He always came without warning and when they least expected it.

Luke 17 is important also-

22And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.


23And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.


24For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Sometimes we can get caught up on signs, and we're warning the world that Christ is coming back during every major disaster.. and that has been going on for centuries. We follow the news, follow Youtube videos, books, and words of men saying they are so convinced Christ is at the door.. but the Bible never said it was by natural disasters, wars, or unfortunate events that He will come.. but that He will come as a thief.. which is very quietly, subtly, in the calm of the night when no one is stirring. Our job is to watch and be ready for that sudden knock on the door.. and I am willing to bet everything I've got that it will be during a time when no one in the world is expecting it.

"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Matt 25:13

And watch out for those who claim they do.

A

Hell and the Elect

The highest percentage of those who do not believe in a hell are Universalists.

Often times, whenever we share that we do not believe in an eternal, ongoing burning inferno, then others assume that we are Universalists. We are definitely not Universalists, and we do believe in a judgment and a punishment.

We were able to prove through our in-depth study in the Bible that the wicked will be burned up by God, but that the fire does go out after it consumes them. We are able to show that the eternal fire is not its duration, but its finality. We are able to show that hell, 94% of the time in the Bible, refers to the grave. The rest of hell translates as Gehenna, which is a valley in Jerusalem. Only one instance refers to Tartaroos, which is a holding place for fallen angels to be reserved unto judgment.

If you haven't checked out our hell studies, then please click "hell" on our right column under "labels" or click HERE. Be sure to check out our four part study on hell called "The Biblical Truth About Hell" where we try to cover every instance of hell listed in both the OT and the NT.

We also believe in the elect since we are able to find it scripturally. But how does there not being a "hell" work for those who also believe in the elect?

Well, once we put these pieces together by scripture, it does flow together perfectly.

First, one cannot help but be humbled that God chose us before the foundation of the world as His elect. We are also thankful since it was not by any merit of what we have done, or any importance of who we are because it was by God's mercy alone. It could have easily been the next guy instead. As Paul wrote in Galatians 1, "It was the father's good pleasure to separate me from my mother's womb and to reveal His Son in me."

Secondly, since God raises up vessels fitted unto destruction and vessels unto mercy (Rom 9) by His own will before we have ever done anything yet.. then why would God punish those who were created that way by burning them forever and ever in the utmost agony possible? I am not writing this by my own emotion and rationalizing, but what I am able to defend scripturally.

The Bible shows that God, whom we all will praise for being a just and merciful judge, gives everlasting life to us through Jesus Christ His Son. This gift is a gift, which is exclusive and not everyone gets it. That is what makes it a gift, and it is only possible through Christ. Those without Christ do not get everlasting life. Instead, they will die because the wages of sin is death (the second death).

We all will die because we were born unto Adam in the flesh but to God, this is only sleep since we will all be raised up again. But after this, God's elect will inherit everlasting life and live forever with Christ when He comes back to redeem them from the grave. Those who did not die in Christ will be brought up again after the thousand years are over, and they will face the second death. The second death is the one that they will NOT come back from. They will die.. forever. They will miss out on the gift of God. They will miss out on life, on being glorified, and they will miss out in living forever in Paradise with God.

It is so simple and clear once we find this. The elect of God will be given life. The wicked will not have life, but they will die and perish forever. After we have studied this, it has helped us understand God's character more and His plan for us.

But don't just take our word for it either. Check out the links to the scriptures we have found. Check your Bible. Use your concordances, and the Greek and Hebrew translations (E-sword.net is an excellent free tool to have all these at once). Most important of all, ask God to guide you into His truth, to give you discernment also, and wisdom which He has promised to give liberally to all who ask for it.