But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Ezekiel 33:5
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Should We Fear the End Times? The simple answer is ‘No.’
Rev. Kyle Norman Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer 2021 1 Oct
Classic depictions of the apocalypse herald a day to be feared. The earth becomes overrun by evil and destruction. Wars rage throughout the globe and fire falls from the sky as divine judgment is rendered upon a wicked humanity. The phrase “hell-on-earth” is usually connected to this popularized depiction of the end times. The End Times is a time of judgment, wrath, and condemnation.
While such things make for exciting movie scripts, does this picture coincide with the biblical depiction of the End Times? More specifically, for those who belong to Christ, is the End Times something we should fear? How does faith in the unyielding love of God, and the message of reconciliation through the cross, change the way we await the culmination of all history?
Despite these popular depictions, Christians need not fear the End Times. In fact, for Christians, the End Times is a time of hope, a time of promise. Christ’s second coming is a day we anticipate, long for, and look to. If you are tempted to be gripped in fear when thinking about the End Times, here are three things to consider.
1. It Is a Time of Loving Redemption
When we speak of the End Times, we must acknowledge a certain tension that exists in the scriptural witness. On one hand, we cannot escape the reality that the end of the age brings about God’s righteous judgment.
The end of the age is when God deals a final blow to the power of sin and death. Sin is defeated, as is the dehumanizing work of the devil. Because of this judgment, the end of the age is sometimes expressed negatively.
The prophet Malachi, for example, cries “who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? He will be like a refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap” (Malachi 3:2). God’s visitation upon the earth addresses sin, not just in the world, but also in ourselves. Undoubtedly, this is not a comfortable experience.
Yet Malachi is profound in the image he puts forward. Malachi speaks of the End Times as a time of refining and purifying. The refining of metal involves the burning away of impurities so that the metal’s original glory may be revealed. The purpose of refining and purifying is to restore the metal, not to destroy it. As uncomfortable as this process may be, this is an image of redemption.
The End Times, therefore, heralds God’s unyielding love. It is a mistake to associate the End Times with the vengeful wrath of God. God is loving toward God’s creation and extends love to all whom God has made.
Jesus says, “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 22:27-28).
We do not fear the coming of Christ because our sin is covered by the blood of Jesus. We are forgiven. There is nothing to fear because the End Times brings about the full realization of our redemption.
2. It Is a Day of Recreation
The Book of Revelation is one of the primary places where the End Times is articulated in Scripture. Many mistakenly see John’s vision as one of destruction and wrath. Yet this is not the reality of John’s apocalyptic vision. Rather than a mystical experience of endless destruction, John’s vision of the End Times is infused with God’s grace and love.
Near the close of the book, John writes,
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:1-6).
This is the ultimate vision of the end. God recreates a New Heaven and a New Earth. “Look, I make everything new,” declares the one seated upon the throne (Revelation 21:3).
John’s vision of the New Heaven and the New Earth directly mirrors the original creation found in Genesis 1-3. Like the Garden of Eden, John observes a great river and a mighty tree standing in the center of the New Jerusalem. The river gives life, and the leaves of the tree bring healing, not separation. The meaning of this is clear: the world lost through sin and deceit, back in Genesis 3, is now recreated.
This is exactly what “apocalyptic” means. An “apocalypse” is when God brings one era to a close so that another can begin. This is what occurs with the second coming of Christ. Christians do not fear the End Times because the apocalyptic end of this age is merely the time where all creation is restored, and we are ushered into God’s endless reign.
3. We Live in the End Times Now
We often speak of the End Times as occurring in the far distance. In fact, we may even doubt whether the “End Times” will occur at all. Theologically speaking, however, we live in the End Times today. Theologians classify our present time as the “now but not yet.” While we live in the full reality of God’s kingdom, we still await the culmination of God’s salvation in the world.
The End Times is a present reality because we live in anticipation of Christ’s return. Jesus spoke of this very dynamic in the Gospel of Matthew. When asked about what signs might indicate the end of the age,
Jesus responded, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:6-8). Jesus is clear about what takes place upon the earth prior to the full establishment of God’s reign.
Christ’s description is eerily contemporary. Scan any news channel and you will inevitably hear about “wars and rumors of wars.” The globe continues to shake, violently at times, and hurricanes continually wreak devastation throughout the world.
Moreover, the gap between “the haves” and the “have-nots” continues to widen, and famine, poverty, and hunger is a sad reality for many throughout the world. We currently wade through the waters of a global pandemic.
Ultimately, to say we live in the End Times is merely to say that we live in a world in desperate need of the healing power of Christ. We live in a world in need of redemption. Even today “all creation waits in expectation for the children of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19).
The call of Christians is not to fear the End Times, or to flee from them, but to engage them in the power of the Spirit and the testimony of the gospel. Not only does the love of Jesus surround us, but the Spirit also empowers us to live faithfully in this time.
Why Should We Not Fear?
We can never plunge into the depth of this what the End Times fully means for us in our life of faith. In the end, the End Times speaks to the culmination of God’s work of redemption. Such things will always be beyond the full understanding of our finite minds.
Until the day where we shall “know fully as [we are] fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12), we are called to recognize that the End Times speaks to the sovereignty of God. God is in control, and God’s redemption is secured. Of that, we can be confident, and thus, we need not fear.
Reverend Kyle Norman is the Rector of the Anglican Parish of Holy Cross in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He has a doctorate in Spiritual Formation and is often asked to write or speak on the nature of the Christian community, and the role of Spiritual disciplines in Christian life. His personal blog can be found here.
8 References to ‘BE WATCHING or WATCHFUL.’ ‘8’ indicates that a new ‘era or epoch’ is arriving. Be it the rapture, the tribulation, the year of the Jews redemption or the year of the onset (2028) of the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ (2028-3028).
Matthew 24:42; Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Matthew 25:13; Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Mark 13:35; Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.
Luke 21:36; Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man
Luke 12:37-39; Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And 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.
‘Increasing Like Labor Pains.’ ‘Fearful Sights.’ ‘Perilous Times.’ ‘Men’s hearts failing with fear.’ Great Convergence of Signs.’ REDEMPTION IMMINENT.
In His Service,
Night Watchman
Paul Rolland
Night Watchman Ministries
Make Your Decision for Christ NOW!!!!!!! Time is Up!!!!!!!
Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:
The ABCs of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)
A. Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.
. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).
. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).
. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).
B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; that He was both fully God and fully man and that we are saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. Become a son or daughter of God by receiving Christ.
. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).
C. Call upon His name, Confess with your heart and with your lips that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.
. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).
. . . “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. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).
. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).
. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).
. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).
. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).
. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).
. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).
. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).
. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).
. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).
True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:
Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
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