“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:44.
When we observe the situation of the world around us, we can’t help but see that something extraordinary, something that has never happened before, is approaching. There is a subliminal perception that it has to do with the end of this world. The godless attitude of the great masses of people shows this clearly. We find parallels to this in the Bible, where the condition of the people before the flood and before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described. The highest degree of immorality and dissipation provoked God’s judgments.
Many have heard the expression, “After me, the deluge.” It is used when people or individuals who bear responsibility are confronted with their sinful actions and urged to reconsider their lives.
King Ludwig XV of France led a reckless, thoughtless life. “To the warnings of his counselors the king was accustomed to reply: ‘Try to make things go on as long as I am likely to live; after my death it may be as it will.’ It was in vain that the necessity of reform was urged. He saw the evils, but had neither the courage nor the power to meet them. The doom awaiting France was too truly pictured in his indolent and selfish answer, ‘After me, the deluge!’” –Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 280, 281. The results of such an attitude were frightening and terrible, culminating in the denial of our merciful God and heavenly Father, fighting against Him, and provoking His terrible judgment upon the nation.
People generally don’t realize the direction they’re being led. As God’s children, we have more opportunity, for our Lord Jesus gave us exact information concerning the end of the world and His return in the clouds of heaven; we can find His instructions in His word, the Bible.
To begin with, in Matthew 24:1, 2, He spoke of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” But the disciples weren’t satisfied with these words. They wanted to hear more, so they asked Him more pointedly: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3. The disciples came to the conclusion that if the temple in Jerusalem would be so completely destroyed, it must be accompanied by the end of the world–really a logical conclusion. After all, God had identified Himself with this building in earlier times and had personally given the instructions to build Him a house so He could dwell among His people. If His house were destroyed, it would be tantamount to the end of the world.
Before Jesus went further into what would occur at the end of the world, He said in Matthew 24:4, 5: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” These words have been and still today are being fulfilled in the false religious messiahs and prophets who continually arise. Also the many Christian splinter groups are very dangerous, because they bring much confusion. All of them claim to be the true temple of the Lord, and they attract those who are credulous.
But what in reality comes out is like what Jesus said about the temple in Jerusalem: “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Spiritually, there is a danger today that whole churches are shaken and their members suffer shipwreck of faith. Many things, of which they were previously firmly convicted, could run the risk of being shaken, if they are not watchful, because every wind of apparently new knowledge is blowing. We are experiencing a shaking today, which can be compared to a strong earthquake, which affects individual members and may destroy their faith. Nevertheless, we also see in everything God’s loving, creative hand, which is preparing His church amid the present chaos. At the same time, it may be that Jesus is personally knocking on our heart’s door and revealing to us our true condition, our comfortable lukewarmness, and our penchant for the enticements of the world. It will do us no good to refer to the Bible and testimonies while our inner man is far from being sanctified by them.
Our greatest responsibility today is to be aware ourselves and make the world aware that this is the time of judgment, in which everyone should be prepared through searching God’s word to be able to stand before a holy God when Jesus returns. We are all aware of this work today. For only a few does it really lead to a complete renewal of faith. For others, it leads to their turning away from God and His church and casting aside everything that was previously most precious and holy to them. How else is it possible that people of faith suddenly break away from their marriage, family, and church and under pressure from the world plunge into doubtful adventures to retrieve the so-called freedom which marriage, family, and church had up to now kept from them? This is the very area from which the strongest temptations come to us, and it is worth it to resist them through the battle of faith. If given in to, they will fill up the cup of iniquity and plunge such people into damnation.
1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 makes it clear that certain sins will exclude one from God’s kingdom, and the church may not tolerate them. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
The apostle Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth, and in Verse 11 he said further: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Can we then presume to step on God’s goodness and mercy and make the sacrifice of Jesus ineffective because we are not ready to give up cherished sins?
The great deception is that today every wind of doctrine is blowing, which causes many not only to reject the doctrines that are points of salvation, such as God’s law or the present investigative judgment of the believers, or the fall of and judgment upon Babylon, but also to tolerate practices which do not harmonize with God’s commandments. It has always been connections with people who live in sin, with their views of life and false teachings, which hurt God’s people and led many into apostasy and eternal damnation.
A focus of the Reformation under Martin Luther was justification of the sinner by faith alone. Jesus offers us this gift of grace from the heavenly Father through His obedience to the point of death on the cross of Calvary. Most of the Christian churches are in agreement with this. But problems arise when it comes to letting grace work so that we can be delivered from the sins which rule us. Here the believer must cooperate with Jesus. He must ask Jesus with all his heart and with all honesty to separate him from every sin. Therefore, it is necessary for us to bow our knees every day in our private chamber and in contrition confess our sins. Only through complete surrender of our life to Jesus will our heart be freed from the sinful desire which affects our flesh. Anyone who is ready to do this will experience the power of Christ’s blood in his life. This process is confirmed in 1 John 1:7-9: “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe in Jesus’ audible, visible return, as confirmed by the Holy Scriptures and Jesus’ own words. But we can meet Jesus only if we are partakers of His divine nature. Only then can we be translated to be with Him when He appears with power and glory in the clouds of heaven. We read in 2 Corinthians 7:1 what every honest child of God should do until our Lord Jesus Christ returns: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
At the same time that the gospel message clearly shows us our salvation through God’s mercy, it also warns us clearly and unmistakably against apostasy and playing with God’s patience and grace. The following words of Hebrews 6:4-8 are a serious warning to us: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”
We read the following in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 407: “Our time is precious. We have but few, very few days of probation in which to make ready for the future, immortal life. We have no time to spend in haphazard movements. We should fear to skim the surface of the word of God.”
–Ignaz Hirschner, Germany
